Partners
by Xekstrin
Summary: Sequel to RUNAWAY People need people. Latest chapter: I finally updated after a few months! SheenaXRaine, Colloyd, GenisOC, Presea?
1. School Days

**Those who know me will say "Another fast update from the splooshie!"**

**I had way too much fun writing Runaway. The surgeon general should issue a warning about it. So here's your sequel!**

Summary: Eight months after the events of Runaway, our two heroines go through separate (yet somehow parallel) quests to find their true identity, and the secret of their births. Along the way, they receive help from old friends- from the World Reunification Journey, and from the story "Runaway" both. And, in Raine's case, she finds someone else, someone dear to her she thought she had lost seven years ago…

In game time, this story takes place two years and eight months after the ending of the game. Lloyd chose Colette to be his partner, and they are now married with no children but have three dogs: Zelly, Colloy, and Percy. Zelos is still engaged to Pandora (against his will), and Presea has recently gone through a... shall we say... _rebellious_ stage. Yuan regained most of his angelic powers after Kloitz nearly destroyed his Cruxis Crystal. Most- but the emotion dampening effects aren't the same, so he suffers from random mood swings. Last we saw, he had offered Kloitz's Cruxis Crystal to Genis, but for reasons that were never fully explained.

Warnings! **Character Death**, Gay/Lesbian Love, Incest, Possibly small torture scenes and offensive language. Not a story for the kiddies. If you are offended by these things, feel free to check out my story "Sheena's Problem" as it contains none of the above. (Except Language, but that's just a given for any of MY stories).

Pairings!Reena, Colloyd, Pregal, Gesea, GenisxOC's, RainexOC, SheenaxOC. Zelos is paired with everyone in the story. Since my fluid and volatile mind often says one thing and then turns around to write something else entirely, expect some fluctuations. Or, you know, it might just be a mystery that won't be explained till ten chapters later.

_Ramblings!_Expect lots of rants at the beginning/end of every chapter. Mostly they will be of the "R&R or the owl will eat you" variety. I love reviews so very much. In any case, please enjoy this story, as it is meant purely to entertain and does not necessarily reflect any of my beliefs or customs. Do not say I'm sick for anything I write, because your flames will only serve to warm my feet as I freeze in the air-conditioned loveliness that is the computer room. I will leave you to read, with these parting words:

Now… _Now_ the fun begins!

* * *

The navy blue Rheiard sliced through the clouds, its newly refined engine not making a sound as it sank down to just above the warm, splashing waves. The sunny beach, with students out on their weekend break, was a teasing reminder that summer was nearing its end. Not that the rider of the Rheiard ever went to the beach. He veered off to his right, towards the city that had sprung up from its own ashes, much like Luin had. Neo, the city of New Beginnings, was also only a day's travel from the City of Scholars, Sybak. That was where the rider was heading, to fulfill a childhood dream. A dream of finally being in his element, a school where he could interact with other students.

Like a normal kid.

With a brief pang of nostalgia, he flew over the elementary division over to where the older kids would congregate. He landed in right in front of the dorms, the multi-colored engines of his Rheiard kicking up dust and making the ends of his double-breasted, navy blue coat flap like the sails of a ship. Swinging one long leg over the side, he hopped off onto the ground, pulling out a small mechanical device and clicking a button, shrinking the Rheiard to a pocket sized toy.

The rider looked around him. The area was empty- probably because they were all shopping around Neo or at the beach. Sliding his goggles up to rest on his impossibly spiky blue hair like a second pair of eyes, he tried to find something that looked like an office, or a place where he could find who was in charge. Finally, he found the main office and walked inside, spotting a desk and a young, pretty girl who looked like she knew more about this place than he did. That was good enough for him.

"Excuse me," he said, walking up to the desk. "I'm a new student."

"Ah, looks like you came at a good time then." She smiled, scooting out of her chair to open up a filing cabinet. "It'll be easier to find your way around when all the students aren't here causing mayhem. Can I have your name?"

He tilted his head to the side, his eyes questioning. "Meaning, you aren't a student?" he asked her instead of answering her question.

She flushed. "Well, yeah, I am, but I work part time here to help pay my tuition." She rifled through a few files before pulling one out triumphantly. "Hey, but I found your file! You're the newest student in a while, Genis…. Sage?" She looked up, her eyebrows rising so high that they became hidden by her brown bangs. "The kids around your area must have killed you for having that name, huh?"

Genis smiled, softly. "I had the name long before it was famous. Is there a copy of my schedule in that file? I lost mine on the ride here."

"Hmm, seems you're in luck, Genis. Here- classes don't start for two days though." She held it out to him and he pulled his gloved right hand out of his coat pockets to take it. The girl couldn't help but notice that, attached to the back of his hand, a large shining jewel was pulsing with its own light. Even she could tell an Ex-sphere when she saw one.

"Uniforms are only for the younger children, right?" Genis asked her, his grey-blue eyes scanning over the paper. When she didn't answer, he looked up to see her staring hard at him as if he held the answer to some deep, dark secret. "Right?" he repeated.

She started. "Um, yeah. Right. Aren't you hot in that outfit, though? Or wait-" she smiled, wryly. "Are you only wearing that so that your whole ensemble is blue like your hair?"

Genis tugged at a strand of his solid, sky blue hair, sparing it only a glance as he shrugged. "I don't get hot easily."

"Uh-huh. Here's your room key- try not to lose it." She pulled open a drawer and sifted through a ridiculous amount of keys before coming across the right one and handing it to him.

It was neatly snatched out of his hand by a newcomer, a teenager around his own age. "I'll take that, thank you Dick." He grinned up at the girl behind the desk. "Hey there, Alice. Busy flirting it up with Dick here?" He slapped Genis on the back, as if they were old pals. "You'd better not even try. He's totally gay for me."

Genis narrowed his eyes slightly at the newcomer. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I… thought your name was Genis…" Alice said slowly, looking down at the papers in her hand.

"Hmm?" the blond young man looked up. "Oh, yeah, but I just call him that because he's an arrogant asshole to everyone he meets. Aren't you, Dick?"

Genis shook his head, his face a tired, emotionless mask. "I think you have me confused for someone else. Can I have my room key back, please?"

"This is really a surprise. I can't believe now that you're all famous you forget your old buddy. I sure remember you, Mr. Four-Hundred-Out-Of-Four-Hundred-Points. How's your sister doing?"

Genis's clear grey eyes flickered with suppressed emotion as he began to understand. "You're not…?"

"I am!" Mighty grinned, but his eyes remained unsmiling. "Took you long enough to decide to come to school, you back-country hick. Ready for a retest to see how many brain cells you lost when you got smacked around by the Desians?"

A slow, savage smile spread across Genis's face for a moment before it was wiped away. He snatched the keys back from Mighty, dangling them in front of his face, expression cool. Another Ex-sphere was attached to his other hand as well, though it wasn't as large or bright as the first. "I would, but I really don't need to prove myself to you or anyone else in this school. See you two in class."

He left, but Mighty followed him. "I think that you should know," he said, matching Genis stride for stride, as they were both the same height now, "That we're roommates."

Genis stopped in the tracks. "We are not," he said.

"We totally are."

Genis lost his cool, glaring dangerously at Mighty. "You're really not funny. Stop bugging me."

Mighty chuckled, darkly. "Afraid not, bud. I'll bug you every day when you wake up until you're afraid to go to sleep. That is, until you re-take the entrance exam with me."

Genis counted to ten in his head, using the relaxation technique Yuan taught him to keep his face blank and smooth. "I already took it."

"Yeah, three years ago."

"Two years and eight months, if you want to get specific. But the records still show that I passed, and am welcome at any time I decide to come back. So you can…" he had reached his room, and stopped. Mighty stopped with him. "What are you still doing hanging around me?" he demanded. "Go study or something."

"I told you- we're sharing a room. Get used to it and open the door. I lost my key."

* * *

"Hey- hey look at the freak!"

She bowed her head, carrying a pail full of milk, concentrating on not letting too much of it spill onto the ground. Mesha didn't mind the insults because she heard them every day. Her father told her to ignore the boys, but she knew that was impossible. So instead she just bore them steadily, just another heavy thing to carry.

"Jeez, lookit her hair! It's _green_. She's such a little freak."

They were wrong, she knew. She knew there was nothing unnatural about a half-elf. She wasn't freakish, just different.

_You go to the market and buy vegetables that I helped to grow so you don't starve;_ she wanted to say to them. She was angry, but not at them- just their ignorance. It baffled her the way they could be so stupid. Did they truly not realize? Or were they just ignoring it, the way she _tried_ to ignore them? She had been nice to them, once. They had returned it with shoves and kicks and she had run home bawling to her father. Now she was polite. She didn't go out of her way to be nice anymore so that she could have it spat back in her face.

_My father helped your father fix his fence, once_; she wanted to say to another, when she recognized one of their faces. They had followed her, talking loudly to each other, jumping up to balance along the farm fences they passed and throwing rocks behind her. Of course they weren't brave enough to actually hit her, not after the first few times when her father had spoken to their fathers. They had probably gotten beaten. But there was nothing she could do about the taunting, since there was no way to prove it. Bruises could be proof. Sore feelings and pillows wet from weeping at night were not.

That made her angry too, now that she thought about it. She wanted them to hit her so she had an excuse to hit them back. And she wouldn't be afraid, like they were. At night, when her chores were done, she would practice fighting on a dummy. She read books from the local library, about the body. She knew there were ways that she could kill them, even though she was small and outnumbered.

But thinking about it made it worse. Now she knew the day could not go without incident, because she'd have to open her big mouth again to defend herself. _I am not a monster!_ She yelled at them in her head. _You're the monsters! I just want to live! Leave me alone! My father loved my mom, don't you understand that? Don't you understand emotions? What will you do when you have children and they come home weeping because the wolves in sheep clothing threw rocks at them?_

She bit her lip so hard it bled. Just a little farther and she could give the milk to her neighbor, an older woman who paid her to help around the farm sometimes. Today it was milking her only cow, who knows what it would be tomorrow? Maybe help watering her small vegetable patch. But the boys had figured out her schedule, and came when they knew the old woman would be at the market. There was no one there to witness the teasing.

A rock skidded by her feet, making her jump. The milk sloshed a little and she cursed under her breath.

"I think she's gonna _cryyyyy_ again, oh, oh the little girl she's gonna_ cryyyyy_ agaaaaain."

**PANG**_slllluushhh_!

One of the rocks had been terribly off-target, slamming into her pail of milk, jarring it out of her hands to splash all over the floor. She whirled on them, saw the guilt and fear on their faces for a moment.

Then they realized she was angry.

So they laughed.

"You morons!" She screamed at them, walking up to one and pushing him, hard. She knew him- Tommy was four months younger than her. But he was also four inches _taller_ than her, and a human. "You- you fucking morons!" They laughed at her more, dancing around in circles as she tried to reach them, tried to hurt them. But she was blinded by her tears and the laughter, so she didn't see when one of them stuck his foot out and tripped her up. She stayed down, weeping into her palms as they jeered at her, forming a circle around her, raising the rocks high.

"You leave her _alone_!"

Mesha was startled out of her tears by an unfamiliar adult voice. This was a small town- everyone knew everyone else, and visitors were few and far between. At first, through her tear-muddled eyes, it looked like an old woman. But when she had wiped her eyes dry she had seen it wasn't an old woman- a young woman with white hair.

An angry woman. She marched over to them, strange, violet eyes seeming to glow with their own energy as she shoved a boy aside, helping Mesha to her feet. She held Mesha's hands up, gently, seeing how she had scraped her palms when she landed on the floor. "First Aid," she whispered. A cool, pleasant sensation washed over her, and for a moment, Mesha was at peace.

Then the wonderful, beautiful woman who had saved her picked up a staff and whacked one of the boys clean upside his head. "You like to pick on girls, huh?" the woman said, the picture of utter fury. "Or is it because she's a half-elf? Do you know you owe your pathetic lives to a half-elf? Do you?"

One of the boys had turned to run off in fear, but a pair of strong, nimble hands caught him before he could get far. Another person, a half-elf by his pointed ears, sneered down at him. "If you're too stupid to remember, why don't we ask your buddies, huh? Who saved the world- Lloyd Irving, right? And there were half-elves with him, too. Two of them." He shoved the boy back, hard, so he fell down on his butt. "Sit down and listen, you bunch of punks. While you were sitting here pissing in your beds because you thought Derris-Kharlan was gonna fall on your brains, the nine heroes were risking their lives so that you could live to see another day. And this is how you repay them?" He spat onto the ground near his foot. "You're pathetic. Now get out of my sight before I rip your fucking spine out through your ass!"

They scattered.

The red haired man glared after them for a moment before scratching his head sheepishly. "Yeesh, they were just kids."

"They were teenagers, Harley," the woman said. "By that age they know well enough what's right and what's wrong." Harley shrugged, and she turned to Mesha, her voice gentle.

"Are you all right?" she asked, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe at her tears.

"Th- thank you," Mesha hiccoughed. "I'm fine. Thank you." She sniffled, blubbering all over the half-elf's tissue. Then she for the first time realized completely what had happened. She jumped, nervously wringing the tissue as she tried to babble out an apology. "Oh gosh, I- I'm so sorry you had to get involved! They wouldn't have really hurt me; they don't really do that anymore, they would have let me go. I'm so sorry. I really have to make it up to you, somehow. Do you need a place to stay? My father's farm- I- I really am so very sorry!"

Harley laughed. "She's cute. What's your name, kiddo?"

"I'm not a kid, I'm just small!" Mesha said at once, without thinking. "I- I mean. Mesha. My name is Mesha."

"I'm Harley," the half-elf introduced himself. "I'm from Asgard. This is my teacher, R-"

"Raine Sage," the female half-elf cut it, smiling down at Mesha. "My name is Raine Sage."

"People call her "The Professor"," Harley added, grinning.

"So, Mesha," the heroine said to her as she tried hard not to let her jaw drop down into the spilled milk on the floor. "Where do you live? We'll walk you home. And while we're there, we can talk about something only people with Elvin blood in them can do called the 'Healing Arts'."

Mesha nodded her head, slowly.

* * *

"She's a remarkable girl," her father said, later that night. Mesha had arrived at her house with the two half-elves, though she was in a daze as she told her father what had happened. Hearing the story, he invited the two of them inside for dinner. Raine wanted to object, but Harley reminded her that he was getting tired of her cooking and could do with a change of pace. Mesha barely touched her food, going upstairs to her room. She had a lot to think about.

"Mm," Raine agreed with him.

"Uh… would you two like some coffee, or..?" Mesha's father, Peter, might have been handsome once. But a recent grief over the loss of his wife and the toils of scraping out an existence with a half-Elvin daughter had taken their toll on him. He smiled thinly at Raine, "I still have my wife's tea here, if you would like that better."

Raine nodded and smiled.

"I'll have coffee!" Harley said. "Never took a liking to tea." He bounced his foot on the floor as he sat at the kitchen table, glancing around the house with curiosity. In Raine's opinion, he needed the extra caffeine like she needed a sword blow to the head, but she decided to let it slide tonight. When the drinks were all brewed and set down into steaming mugs, Peter tried his best to relax.

Raine cleared her throat and began to speak when Harley butted in. "That's a beautiful picture you have up over there," he said, nodding with his chin to a simple charcoal drawing of a young woman. Raine noted the elongated ears and the petite, almost fragile appearance of the girl and decided that she must have been Mesha's mother.

"Did Mesha draw that?" Raine asked him, managing to tear her eyes away from the drawing.

Peter nodded. "She's very talented," he said, softly. "She taught herself how to read, you know."

"Did she?" Raine took a sip of her tea while Harley eagerly added spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his coffee. She gave him a meaningful glance and he stopped at once, trying his best not to look guilty.

"Yes. It makes me proud to know that my child is so much smarter than me." He sat back in his chair, smiling sadly. "But I'm at least smart enough to know you're not here for the coffee. You…" he closed his eyes, letting out a large breath, "You want Mesha for something, don't you?"

Raine threw his own words back at him, smiling. "She's a remarkable girl." Then she added, "As a human, you have no idea just _how_ remarkable. She has a lot of raw power that can be harnessed to do great things. Just standing near her I can feel mana pulsing in the air around her."

Peter looked into his mug as if it held all the answers for him.

"I'm sure it must have killed you that there weren't any teachers in this area who could tutor her properly in elf matters," Raine pressed. "What I'm offering is a chance to teach her these things."

Peter shook his head slowly. "I wouldn't be able to pay for something like that, Miss Sage."

"I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you for Mesha."

"You mean you're going to take her somewhere?" he sat up, his eyebrows rising.

"I'm going to take her everywhere," she corrected him, taking another sip of her tea. "All around the known world… and then some. The roads are much safer then they were three years ago, and the best way to learn magic is to actually go out and use it.

"Around the world?" his eyebrows bunched together, the beginnings of a scowl forming on his lips. "You want me to just give up my daughter to two strangers who claim they're two of the nine heroes?"

"Actually, I'm just her student from Asgard," Harley said. "_She's_ Raine Sage, though. She's got the Unicorn Horn to prove it. And a few letters from the king granting her all sorts of noble titles and things. And if you-"

"Harley," Raine said softly, and he stopped. Standing up and putting her mug down on the table, she picked up her staff. "I understand. I didn't really expect you to accept this anyway, at least not at first. But if you ever change your mind, please send a letter to this address in Meltokio." She pulled a notepad out of her pocket, flipping past pages full of monster stats to a blank page and scribbling down the address. She handed him the paper. "Thank you very much for the dinner and for the tea." Looking at Harley, she jerked her head in the direction of the door.

"Yeah, thanks," Harley said half-heartedly. Raine picked up her coat and they made their way to the door. But as they were leaving, Harley suddenly turned around and ran back to the table, slamming his palms down on the surface.

"But don't you see that this is her only chance to get away from here?" he asked Peter, breathlessly. "Don't you see that this way she can see the world? The whole world? And maybe she can make something from it?"

"Harley!" Raine said, sharply. "This is his daughter we're talking about. Try to understand how he feels."

"…Yeah, yeah, whatever," Harley shrugged angrily and stormed out past Raine. She sighed.

"Good night, Mr…" she paused, realizing she hadn't learned their last names.

"Zerep."

Raine nodded slowly and left, closing the door after her.

* * *

The next morning, as they were leaving town, Mesha found them. She almost lost sight of them when she tripped over her own two feet, spilling out the contents of her bag onto the ground. "Oh damn it all!"

She hurriedly stuffed her clothing back into her pack, looking around wildly for some sight of silver or crimson hair. When she did spot them, her heart leapt up into her chest and she rocketed up to her feet, running after them. "Wait!" she called, still trying to close her bag properly. "Wait! Raine! Harley! Please, _wait_!"

She caught up to them finally, bending down and gasping for breath when she knew that they wouldn't suddenly up and leave without her. She angrily wiped at her eyes, trying not to let her breath come out in hitches and sobs. "I.." she swallowed. "I have to go with you. I have to leave now or I'll never leave." She jumped, startled, when Harley put an arm around her shoulder. Briefly, she saw Raine smile, but when she turned to look the Professor full in the face, her expression was blank.

"Looks like we're going to have to get a new Rheiard for my new student," she said. "Until then, would you mind sharing with Harley?"

Mesha didn't know what they were talking about, and honestly didn't care. She nodded.

When they left to search for a flat piece of land to take off from, she only looked back once.

_No regrets,_ she told herself. _There can't be any regret._


	2. Mizuho

A/N: I almost forgot to add something. You know how I have a list of warnings? Well, Yuan's hair is a warning too. He cuts it in this story. HE CHOPS IT OFF! MUAHAHAHA!

Now let's see what Sheena is up to…

* * *

Sheena woke up craving bacon and eggs- a decidedly un-Mizuho breakfast if there ever was one. She yawned hugely, glancing out the window to see that it was almost dawn. Getting up, trying to ignore her sore muscles and growling stomach, she splashed some cold water on her face before trying to make her sleepy brain function properly.

The Chief of Mizuho had gone to try and make peace with another tribe the day before.

She looked up at her ripped and torn, bloodstained purple ninja robes. Water steadily dripped from her face back into the bowl, creating ripples, breaking up the image of her face into a million tiny shards. For a moment, when she looked back down into the bowl, she could see a steady crimson spreading, little red tendrils wriggling out like baby snakes. Then she blinked, and her reflection blinked back at her from the clear surface of the water. She sighed, stretching and trying to get the kinks out of her muscles as she searched for her comb.

The mission of diplomacy had ended in bloodshed.

She slowly ran her comb through her hair, doing her best to untangle the inky black silk, sitting down next to her window so she could see the sun rise. _Once,_ she thought to herself, _once upon a time there was a nation called Mizuho who lived in seclusion on a chain of islands, long ago. The Fallen Hero Mithos split the worlds in two and the nation was cursed to be forever split, hounded and discriminated against by the 'outsiders'._

_Damn, they know how to make their curses last, huh_? She angrily yanked the comb through her hair, wincing as a stubborn knot got caught in the teeth of the comb_. Double Damn._

She sighed loudly as the sun made its full appearance, shining down and looking much too cheerful to suit her current mood. Her shoulders hunched, she rested her chin against the windowsill, watching the nearby forest come to life. _Not_ the Gaoracchia Forest. The Forest of Death was all the way on the other side of the village, far away from where Sheena ever was. She made it a point to avoid it, no longer did she take extended trips out into the forest to hunt down monsters and keep her skills sharp. For her, the place was haunted in more ways than one.

If Orochi noticed a change in his fiancé when she had returned from hunting down Mizuho's assailant, he made no comment. It was impossible not to notice, though- her aversion to large bodies of water, her dislike of the cold or of rain. Now that winter was on its way, Sheena was more depressed than ever, even if she tried not to let it affect her ability to run Mizuho effectively.

Putting the brush down, she stared out at the forest. Maybe today she should leave. She considered it- considered finding out where Kuchinawa had been holing up for the past year. She'd been doing a little research of the whereabouts of all the Exiles from Mizuho, and she had a hunch that if she only left now, she could find him. Her hunches were usually correct, including the hunch that any acts of diplomacy would have ended in failure.

Two bluebirds preformed a midair dance out in her yard, causing her to smile despite herself. If she didn't know any better, she would say it was still summertime and winter would never come, and never let loose the memories locked in the snowflakes.

"Rrrrwraow!"

Out of nowhere, an embarrassingly obese tom cat had sprung up, raking a claw at the bluebirds. The ungainly creature fell down flat on his nose, complaining loudly for anyone to hear. Sheena did her best not to snicker as she found a new life to her morning. Weren't cats supposed to be graceful? The tom must be someone's pet. There was no way a stray could survive with the terrible hunting skills this one showed. But the cat didn't have a collar of any sort, so she could only guess. He stood up, watching the birds intently with large amber eyes, wiggling his bottom for a moment before leaping up again, chasing the teasing bluebirds all across her lawn. Sheena couldn't help it. She laughed out loud.

The tom stopped and looked at her, as if aware he was the source of her laughter.

"This is harder than it looks, y'know!" the tom said, hissing slightly.

Sheena blinked several times. Had a cat just… Was she still dreaming? She'd never had a dream this vivid before. She sat back, staring with huge eyes as the tom cat sauntered over to her, leaping up onto her windowsill to sit in front of her, swishing his tail from side to side.

"Yo," he said. "You know, it's been eight months since you called me last? I'm getting really freaking bored."

Sheena shook her head, wondering how she had slipped so far down the path of insanity without noticing. "I don't…" she shook her head again, harder this time. "I don't think we've met before."

"Of course we have, toots!" the tom yowled, grinning at her as best as he could with the limited facial muscles a cat was endowed with. "Look- I'll even give you a hint 'cause I'm so nice." He closed his eyes, appearing to concentrate, and suddenly a bright red collar appeared on his neck.

The collar was fastened by an obnoxiously large, spinning red bow.

"_Gnome_?"

"The one and only! Miss me, baby?"

Sheena gathered up the summon spirit into her arms, glancing around the yard to see if anyone had witnessed the odd conversation before closing the blinds and sitting down on her cot. Gnome made himself comfortable on her lap as she scratched him behind the ear, not sure how exactly he had arrived but glad for the company.

"I didn't realize you were gone in the first place," she told him as he looked around her home with interest, tail swishing lazily. "Don't you guys… I don't know… live in my head or something?"

"Pshyeah right," Gnome said, purring softly under his breath. "I can just see us now- Celsius and Efreet would be at each others throats all the time and Volt would be making that annoying click-y static noise he always does. The bastard knows it irritates us. I never really understood why he couldn't just use the human language like the rest of us." Gnome kneaded his claws on Sheena's lap, growling. Then he realized it was hurting her and stopped- not that she would have complained. Being a tomboy meant she got scratched up all the time.

"Sheena?" _Tok tok tok tok tok!_ The familiar sound of someone knocking on her door made her curse under her breath. No rest for the wicked, she supposed.

"Hold up Orochi!" she yelled, and then continued, softer. "Gnome, that's my fiancé. Can we continue this talk later?"

"Heck no. Just tell him to go away."

"I can't do that! He's my fiancé!"

"Sheena? Is there someone in there?"

Sheena shook her head and then remembered Orochi couldn't see her through the door. "Uh, no!" she said, rummaging around her room for some clean clothes. "Uh, uh, no, there's no one here."

"Hehehe, so I'm finally going to meet the poor sap who thought it was a good idea to marry you?" Gnome asked from his place on her table, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

"Gnome, just shut up," Sheena snapped, giving up her quest for clothes and just pulling a souvenir robe from the hot springs. "Come on in, Orochi."

Orochi stepped inside, his eyes roaming around in search of the mystery person he had heard Sheena talking to. "Good morning, Fujibayashi-sama," he said, bowing. Softer, he added, "…Sheena."

Sheena smiled, pecking him on the cheek. "Sorry, but I'm not seeing anything good about it- oh!" Sheena flinched in surprise as Gnome leapt onto her shoulder. The fat cat balanced precariously on his narrow perch, examining Orochi from head to toe.

"Hmm," he said. "Are you sure you wanna marry Sheena, buddy? 'Cause let me tell you, I already have a pretty serious commitment to her and I don't see _no_ action."

Sheena flushed. "Gnome!" she said between clenched teeth. "Cut that out!"

Orochi chuckled, scratching Gnome under the chin as if talking cats was an everyday occurrence for him. "I didn't know you had a cat, Sheena."

"I don't," Sheena said at once, but then noticed him reading Gnome's name tag, the one that quite clearly stated: "Property of Sheena! You touch-ee, I kill-ee!"

Gnome snickered.

"He's mine, but he's not a cat!" Sheena said, reaching up to hold the ungainly summon spirit around his impressive belly. "I mean, isn't it obvious?"

"Yeah, isn't it obvious?" Gnome echoed, running a long red tongue over his chin.

Orochi bent down to look at Gnome closely before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to be seeing? He looks like any other tom cat I've ever seen. Although he's abnormally fat. Does he get enough exercise?"

"_Hello_!" Sheena said, angry now. "Can't you hear? Does the fact that he's talking _not_ strike you as odd cat behavior? He's not a cat!"

"By the way, Sheena-cake?" Gnome looked over his shoulder at her, amber eyes mischievous. "While I'm in an animal form like this, only you can understand me because you're my summoner."

"_What_?" Sheena hissed at him. "Why didn't you say that earlier? Now my fiancé thinks I'm insane!"

Orochi looked on in alarm. "Sheena, are you talking to your cat?"

"For the last time, he is not a _cat_!" Sheena groaned, holding Gnome up to Orochi's face. "He's the summon spirit of Earth!"

"Meow," Gnome said.

Orochi placed the palm of his hand gently against her forehead, pushing her bangs out of the way. "Sheena…" he said slowly, taking her by the elbow with his free hand and leading her to her cot. "I think you might be over working yourself. You should take a break while I go call the doctor."

Sheena made a small noise of frustration deep in her throat, shaking Orochi off of her. "I'm not crazy!" she said, "And I'm not sick. Gnome!" She snapped her fingers at the cat, who was trying his best not to erupt into fits of laughter as he rolled around on the floor in a very un-cat-like manner. "I command you to take a human shape so that Orochi can understand you!"

"Command? Command! That's cheating!" Gnome hopped up and down, hissing. "Just 'cause you own my magic doesn't mean you can't ask nicely!" But after a moment of grumbling, he changed. It wasn't a flashy transformation- it was just, one moment there was a cat sitting on the floor and the next moment there was a man. His skin was dark, and when the sunlight streaming through the window touched his skin it was reflected off as if he were made of bronze. Solid obsidian eyes, with no whites whatsoever, still were gleaming with the same mischievous light. Shirtless, and looking as though someone had coated him in dust, he grinned at Orochi. "Hiya."

Orochi visibly jumped, pushing Sheena back behind him instinctively as he pulled out a dagger. "Who…" he looked from Gnome to Sheena, who was still fuming silently. "You mean…"

"Yeah," Gnome said. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Gnome. And as I was saying before, are you sure you wanna marry the Banshee? 'Cause let me tell you, buddy, I already have a pretty serious commitment to her and I don't see no- _mmmph mmmanumammum_!" The summon spirit was cut off as Sheena clapped a hand to his mouth, flushing furiously.

"Gnome!" She snapped, rapping him on the head with her fist for every word she spoke through clenched teeth. "Will-You-Cut-That-Out!"

"OW! Ow-Ow-OW-OW-ow! Sheena! I only meant the last time you called me all I got to do was eat a giant spider and then poof! I went back to my shrine and I've been waiting for eight months. You never call me anymore! I thought you weren't like the other girls! Wahhh!"

Sheena finally let him go with a frustrated sigh, ignoring his pitiful whimpers. "Goddess help me," she muttered under her breath. "Listen, Orochi? I actually have to talk to you about something important, but let me get dressed first." She glared over at Gnome again. The sniffling summon spirit was consoling himself by complaining to the potted plant she kept on her windowsill.

"Of- of course," Orochi said, turning to leave. Sheena had to mentally applaud him for managing to take Gnome in stride. But he paused as he reached the doorway, looking over his shoulder. "But, ah, I would feel better if that _thing_ wasn't in here while you changed."

"Who, Gnome?" Sheena raised her eyebrows in surprise, glancing back over at Gnome, who was now talking animatedly to the vines just outside her window, asking them about how the weather was in Mizuho. "He's harmless, trust me."

"Still…"

Sheena sighed. "Fine, fine. Gnome?"

The summon spirit looked up at once, his face innocently blank of all devious intents. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Could you turn into a girl just until I finish changing, please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely!" Gnome smiled, and there was a woman standing where he had been earlier. Instead of bronze, her skin was pitch black like rich, fertile dirt, and her eyes sparkled with the multi-faceted light of a ruby mine.

She was still topless.

"That's not what I meant," Orochi said weakly, but left the house anyway.

Gnome cackled obscenely. "Did you see the look on his face?" she howled, pounding a fist on the floor. "You'd think he'd never seen a pair of tits before." Gnome grinned again, looking down with admiration at his own creations.

"That was mean of you," Sheena said, rolling her eyes as she found her red outfit, the one her grandfather had given to her when he had deemed her worthy of being successor. "And I would appreciate it if you toned down your language when around me, Gnome." Stepping behind a changing screen, she kept on. "And weren't you saying something about having been gone, earlier?"

"Hmm? Yeah, well, I wasn't gone. I was just hangin' around my shrine, waiting for you to call me. Since you never did, I decided to go to take the initiative and came to see you. You are, by far, the single most coolest summoner who ever made a pact with me. I get bored without ya, babeh!"

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say." Sheena said, peeking around the screen to smile at her.

"And you have a fabulous chest."

Sheena's smile dropped. "Didn't I tell you to tone down the raciness?" she grumbled, ducking back behind the cover to finish getting dressed. When she was done, she walked back around to see Gnome holding her potted plant like a dear friend, helping its flowers grow even though it was out of season. "So why a cat?"

"Dunno. I was bored." She put the pot back down and then leapt into Sheena's arms, once again a plain brown tom cat. "But since I can't really use magic unless I'm at my shrine or with you, it was tiresome and sometimes I wished I'd picked something a leeeettle bit more intimidating than a cat." He wriggled until he was comfortably resting his head against her chest, purring contentedly. "So where to now, Mistress?"

"Well…" Sheena gazed out the window again. "You said you wanted some action?"

Gnome's ears perked up. "Do tell."

"I found a lead. It might take me to wherever Kuchinawa is, and when I find him I'm gonna need all my strength and magic to stop him once and for all. You'll be there?" She scratched him, pressing her nose against his fur fondly. He smelled like he had just rolled around in the dirt for a while, but she didn't mind.

"Hells yes!" Gnome said. "Of course. All of us will be there, Mistress. Technically our pact with you is over, but we kinda unanimously agreed that it's better to be with someone we know than to risk making a new pact with whatever punk decides he wants Efreet to burn up a city, or whatever."

"Good," Sheena said. "But first I need to go to Meltokio."

Gnome shrugged. "As my Mistress commands." Then he yawned hugely. "By the way, whatever happened to the healer lady? Why are you with Mr. Blue-Boy?"

Sheena shook her head, moving to open the door for Orochi. "Maybe some other time. We've got stuff to do."

* * *

A/N: Like... check her mail! 


	3. Like A Dream

A/N: 5413 words long. I got carried away... Genis and Yuan are just a lot of fun to write. R&R!

* * *

"Oh, my Goddess."

Harley stopped, looking over his shoulder with amusement as Mesha stood just outside the city gates of Meltokio, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of the castle far above her. The red-headed half-elf tweaked her ear, rough fingers pulling at the delicate, pointed tips.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you leave your mouth open too long, flies'll get in it?"

"Hmm?" Mesha blinked several times before answering. "Not really. My mother's been dead for three years."

Harley winced. "Oh. I… uh, I'm sorry."

"It's OK," Mesha shrugged, beginning to edge towards the shopping district. "She was six hundred when she died- not bad for an elf woman, y'know?" Eagerly glancing through the shop windows, she seemed ready to jump up and down with excitement. "Do you think when we're done the Professor will let me go shopping?" Her eyes sparkled. "Shopping! In _Meltokio_! It's like a dream!"

"An overrated, overpriced dream," Harley said, knocking the back of her head with his fist. "Meltokio isn't that great. Now come on- the Professor's waiting for us."

"Oh! Right!" She glanced around. "But I don't see her. Is there some sort of Rheiard shop she goes to?"

"Heh," Harley hooked his thumbs into his belt. "Hey listen, don't base everyone outside your village on what you see in us. Not everyone has a Rheiard- in fact, there's less than a dozen who do. And they all know each other. This way." He moved off in the direction of the big stairs, leading up to the noble's district.

"That's…" Dizzying, if truth be told. "Interesting. So you know them all too?"

"Well, not know them know them, but I at least know their names. First off is the Professor and the other eight heroes, then there's a ninja named Ken Akamatsu, and a half-elf everyone calls "Yuan". He has the second-largest collection of Rheiards anywhere. Then there's these two noblemen- or, one nobleman and a noblewoman- who live here and they have two of their own. Pandora Epiphany and Max Kynes- or was it Keiths?" He tapped one finger against his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway… then there's me. And in a few moments you'll see what it means to be a part of this exclusive little club."

Mesha couldn't help but grin. "Cool."

"I know," Harley said, smugly. He looked up and Mesha realized they had arrived at their destination: A lavish mansion bigger than any other house she had ever seen. Suddenly nervous, Mesha hung back as Harley went up and knocked on the door.

"Uhm, I'll just wait outside…" she said in a small voice.

"What, are you kidding?" Harley raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Raine's in there, and since we're her students we have to foll- oh." He had kept on knocking while he was talking to Mesha, and the unlocked door swung open under his fist. "Jeez, this guy never locks his own front door!"

He stepped inside and Mesha, wracked with indecision, finally decided to follow him. Treading carefully on the lush green carpet, she kept her arms pressed close to her side in case she were to reach out and accidentally break one of the many crystal vases and other fragile, _expensive_ things decorating the foyer. "This place is so…"

"Obnoxious?" Harley offered.

"_Big_!"

"….Obnoxious, just like the owner."

"Who lives here?" Mesha asked him, keeping her hands clasped together so that she could better resist the urge to grab everything and take a good close look at it.

"Just a guy. He likes to think he's hot shit, but he's nothing but a loser."

Mesha winced. "Could you please stop using bad language like that?"

"Yeah, sorry. Bad habit." He plopped down on a creamy white sofa, kicking his legs up on a nearby table.

"I should think so. You need to watch your tongue when in the presence of a young lady."

Mesha, startled, turned her attention to Raine and a strange man, standing in the hallway to her left. Her heart stopped beating. One second. Three seconds. Fifteen seconds. Wait, her heart was still beating, she just wasn't _breathing_. If anything, her heart was beating full pace- faster than full pace.

_Who was that with the Professor?_

She took a long, shuddering breath, she mumbling some sort of greeting while looking down at the floor. Distantly, from somewhere far away, she heard the Professor speaking.

"This is Mesha," she said. And on the heels of that: "Don't hit on her."

"Who, me?" said the beautiful young man. If he was a man- somehow, even though she heard his distinctly male voice, he felt like a woman_. He's a phoenix_, she thought briefly, her heart skidding dangerously fast as he approached her. Androgynous, blazing male strength and feminine grace, beauty, compassion. He gently tipped her head up, one finger under her chin.

"Look at _her_!" he said, grinning. He admiringly ran his free fingers through strands green hair.

_Look- look at the freak!_

"Look, she's so cute!" he squealed, surprising her by wrapping her in a huge bear hug. "Darling, where have you been my whole life? I've missed you, hunny! ♥"

_Is he talking about _me? Her stomach churning, she suddenly pushed him away, as far away as she could while glaring at the floor. "I would appreciate it," she said softly, "If you please kept your distance." When he didn't respond, she dared to peek up at him to see the oddest expression on his face. Then he grinned again, stepping back with one hand on his hip, the other flipping his thick red hair back over his shoulder.

"Hmm," he said, grinning still. "She's somewhat resistant to my devastating beauty and natural charm. Of course, only somewhat- no one is truly safe! Ah hah hah hah ha!" He threw his head back to add further dramatic effect to his laugh. Mesha felt the first twinge of annoyance at him now that her startling first impression was beginning to wear off. He was _so_ like a girl, it was almost disturbing. Mesha had never met a man like him before.

Raine sighed, shoving him roughly out of the way. "In any case," she said. "I'm still not sure if she should be riding a child's sized Rheiard or not. Now that you've seen her, what's your opinion, Zelos?"

Mesha's eyebrow twitched as the Professor tread on dangerous ground. "I am not a child!" she said. "I'm just _small_!"

"Oh, but I can see that, Mesha," the red-haired man purred. Now she was definitely annoyed, even if he was agreeing with her.

"Who are you, exactly?" she asked him, her arms crossed. "It's not fair that you know my name but I don't know yours!"

"Ah, forgive my rude manners." Before she could register what he was doing, he swept her up in another, tighter embrace. "Darling," he said, impossibly blue eyes boring into hers, "My name is Zelos Wilder."

Then, ruining all hopes of being respectable in her eyes, he added in a much brighter tone: "But you can call me _Master_ Zelos! All my other hunnies do."

"Your _what_?"

* * *

"You fell asleep in your clothes?"

Genis opened up his clear grey eyes, looking too alert for someone who had just been shaken roughly awake. Sitting up, he ran a gloved hand through his spiky blue hair, glancing around the room. "…Yep," he said, swinging his legs to dangle over the edge of the top bunk he shared with Mighty.

"Elves are so weird." Mighty shrugged, opening his dresser to find a clean shirt.

"No, I'm the only one that's weird, and I'm only half-elf," Genis said, springing off his bed and landing silently on his feet. "Where are the towels?" he turned to see Mighty flinging a towel at him and caught it without a word. Unbuttoning his navy blue coat, tossed it up onto his bed and stretched.

Mighty's eyebrows arched up in surprise, but he didn't say anything. He had figured that Genis was wearing leather gloves, but that turned out not to be the case. He was wearing some sort of tight, black shirt that covered his upper body from the base of his neck to his finger tips to right below his belly button. It looked like leather at first, because it seemed to be tight enough, but as Genis walked by with the towel over his shoulder he easily shrugged it off, no buttons or zippers. It just fell off of him into his waiting hand, folding like cloth.

"You've got weird tastes in fashion," Mighty said.

"It's not fashion. It's body armor. Here- catch." He tossed the black shirt to Mighty, who looked at it in suspicion. He tugged at it curiously, running his hands through it. Not cold, like silk, but smoothly flowing. Not fragile, either.

"Magic?" he asked, poking a finger through the holes that would accommodate Genis's Ex-spheres. Genis didn't answer, instead shrugging and leaving to take his shower. Mighty made a face at the closed door before going back to examining the armor, curious and determine to figure out how it worked. Slipping his arms through it, he tried to find out how it was fastened when the shirt answered him itself. It tightened automatically to fit his body, but while it was flattering for someone who obviously worked out (like Genis) it was embarrassing for someone who was beginning to develop a pot-belly (like Mighty).

Grimacing at himself in the mirror as he waved his arms about, he tried to get a feel for the armor. He kept on expecting to feel the restricting tightness of leather but was pleasantly surprised when the shirt allowed him to move around as if he was wearing nothing at all. The student began to grin, tapping his fist against his chest, feeling as though he was rapping his hand against metal but feeling soft cloth.

"_Sweeeeeet_…" he breathed. "Hey GENIS!" Mighty yelled over his shoulder at the closed bathroom door. "Where did you buy this thing? I want one!"

There was no answer except the continuous hiss of running water. Mighty growled under his breath, tugging at the armor and trying to take it off. When the smooth, soft material only slipped out of his hands, he began to search for a zipper or maybe an on/off switch that would make it fall off of him like it had with Genis. "Off…" he muttered. "Fall off!"

Genis's voice floated over through the door, over the sound of the water. "It doesn't respond to voices…"

"Then how do I take the damn thing off?" Mighty demanded, wriggling inside the armor that only shifted and flexed to mimic his movements.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before putting it on." Click. The water stopped and Genis walked out of the shower, toweling his hair dry and wearing a fresh seat of blue jeans. "See how my arm is red?" he pointed to his right hand, the one wearing the smaller, weaker Ex-sphere. The arm was normal in every way except the pigment of the skin was a deep, rich crimson. The stain spread all the way up his arm, reaching his chest before it stopped.

"Yeah…" Mighty said slowly.

"The armor did that." Genis nodded. "It's a magic armor that takes years and years to master before you can put it on and take it off at will. Otherwise there will be…" he trailed off, his grey eyes dramatically wide. "…_Consequences_," he whispered.

"What?" the other teenager's eyes widened considerably. "What? What does that mean? I can't take this off for a year?"

"Years. Plural."

"That's bullshit!" He started tapping all over the armor, looking for a way to take it off. He tried pulling it over his head like a normal shirt but it clung on to him possessively, causing him to start to panic a little. "Come on, Genis. Tell me how to get this off."

"I already told you. Now I have to train you how to use it properly." Before Mighty could open his mouth to complain again, Genis said, "But… maybe…"

Mighty couldn't help himself. He really didn't want to be stuck in this unflattering armor for years. "What? What maybe?"

"No…" He placed his left hand over his right shoulder, looking down at his arm. "When I tried to take it off without learning how to properly handle the armor, my arm was ripped off and I had to have my sister reattach it."

Mighty's pale face paled further.

Genis looked him in the eye, his face dead serious. "You're so gullible."

A few seconds ticked by before Mighty exploded. "You asshole!" he yelled, yanking at his light brown, blondish hair. "Crap! Crap! I thought I was stuck in this- don't you dare laugh at me!"

Genis needed to put one hand on the wall to support himself, one fist crammed tightly against his mouth to try and suppress his helpless giggles. "Oh…. Ohoho… oh you thought… oh man… oh you thought I was serious…. Ahahha…." He waved his left hand at Mighty and the large, pulsing Ex-sphere glowed brighter than it normally did for a moment. The armor fell off of Mighty, folding itself neatly onto the floor. "Anyone can put it on," he said, grinning. "But only the person with the properly attuned Cruxis Crystal can take it off. In other words: me."

"I really, really hate you." Mighty collapsed down onto his bunk as Genis, still chuckling, opened up a suitcase at the foot of the bed and pulled out a plain blue polo. "Do you only wear blue?" he demanded for lack of anything else to snap back with.

"It's my favorite color," Genis responded, his voice low and soft again. The momentary burst of emotion had passed. "I'm going to go walk around campus. You have fun now." He walked out and slammed the door shut behind him, smiling thinly as he heard Mighty shouting from inside. Oh, what a typical angry human teenaged boy. At least he was somewhat amusing. He leaned against the closed door, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.

Somewhat amusing.

"This is my dream," he whispered to himself, slowly, before glancing down at the Cruxis Crystal embedded in his left hand, and Marble's Ex-sphere he still kept on his right.

* * *

"I know she gets offended at the thought of riding a Rheiard meant for children, but I'm just concerned for her," Raine sighed, one hand to her face as she closed her eyes, frowning delicately. "For her personal safety it would just be better to be on a machine easier to control. She's not Sheena."

Zelos shrugged. "She seems pretty competent to me, and she _is_ a half-elf."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a compliment, hunny. Almost all the half-elves I've seen have been, well, capable. In a lot of ways."

"I'm not going to risk my student because of a hunch you have."

"I'm not saying to risk anything! I'm saying give her a chance to show what she's made of."

Their eyes met, and they sighed as one, hanging their heads. "Oh, what to do?" they said.

Mesha silently steamed, sitting on the couch next to Harley. "I wish they wouldn't talk about me as if I wasn't right here."

Harley smiled, patting her head. "It's ok, kid- I mean, Mesha," he corrected himself quickly. "It's not just you. They're condescending to everyone they meet."

"Ugh. They're good for each other, then."

Zelos's ears perked up at that and he snatched the Professor close, putting one arm around her waist and squeezing her against his side. He laid his cheek down on the top of her head, smiling at Mesha. "Aren't we, though? I keep trying to tell her that, but alas. Her heart is set on another."

Raine glared at him, extricating herself and sitting down on one of his armchairs. "In any case," she said, her cheeks starting to turn red, "Mesha? I truly don't mean this as an insult to you, but you're going to have to ride on a child's sized Rheiard."

"If it's any consolation," Zelos added brightly, "Presea Combatir is about your size and doesn't mind using a smaller Rheiard."

"I'm not Presea Combatir," Mesha said. "But I see your point. I'll stop being a fuss- I mean, I should be grateful I'm even getting a Rheiard. Err… Mr. Wilder?" She shrunk back in her seat as Zelos clasped his hands together in front of his chest, giving her a huge puppy-dog face.

"She's so mature!" he said, seeming ready to swoon. "Oh she's so, so cute."

"Uh-Uhm, Mr. Wilder, p-p-p-please keep your distance."

"No, no, Mesha," Harley said, "You have to do it like this." He leaned over in front of Mesha, shoving Zelos back roughly. "Get your ugly mug out of my face!"

Zelos brought one hand to his chest, shocked. "Ugly? You're the ugly one here! You're a disgrace to redheads, you are."

Harley opened his mouth, his face turning as red as his hair, when a voice interrupted them. "Hey Zelos!" the female voice said. "I know you're gonna laugh, but I'm really lost in this house of yours. Where's my room again?"

Zelos stiffened, his eyes shifting to glance at the Professor. Raine had looked up at the voice, an odd expression on her face. "Uh, uh!" Zelos waved his arms wildly. "Raine? I know I should have told you this earlier but-"

Sheena froze in the entrance to the hallway, her wet hair dripping onto the carpet as she clutched her towel tighter around her barely concealed curves, her eyes widening in shock. Raine did her best to try and show no emotion, but she couldn't be sure that her face wasn't the complete picture of misery and despair.

"…Raine," Sheena said, and then flinched, taking a step backwards. She turned around and bolted back the way she came, her face bright scarlet.

Raine half stood, reaching out with one hand as if to try and grab her back, but then slowly sat back down onto the seat, staring down at her hands folded on her lap. "You should go after her," she said to Zelos, not looking up. "You're her friend."

Zelos helplessly looked from the departing Sheena and the oddly calm Professor, clearly torn. Finally he decided, chasing after the ninja and leaving a very confused Mesha in his wake. She gave Harley a confused look but he shook his head, unable to answer. Raine stood up, turning to leave by another hallway, on the other side of the room from where Sheena had appeared.

"I think I'll head up to the roof…" she said, distant. "I'll have your Rheiards waiting for you outside the town gates in a half-hour."

"OK, Professor," Harley said, but she had already left. He sighed, loudly. "Geez. Sometimes I really wanna know what happened between those two."

"What happened?" Mesha asked.

"Dunno. They used to be great friends but now they're like…" He shook his head. "Dunno." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he smiled down at her, trying to change the subject. "Anyway… uh…still wanna go shopping?"

* * *

Several days later, Genis had already proved himself to be the top student, right above Mighty. The human boy grew even more resentful of Genis, if that was possible, and yet one could always find them together. Of course they were generally silent, not goofing around like the other boys, and when they did acknowledge each other it was to insult or taunt the other.

Today was such a day.

"It's lunch time already," Mighty said over the rumblings of his stomach. They were sitting in the plaza, near the fountain built in memory of all who died in the Palmacosta disaster. If Genis felt uneasy around the reminder of his and the other's first failure, he didn't let it show. "I'm gonna go ahead and head out to the cafeteria. Of course I will not be seeing you there, since you're obviously too cool to eat with the rest of us pitiful humans."

Genis pushed his goggles up higher on his head, shrugging. "I don't like the food they cook here," he said, under his breath.

"What was that?" Mighty cupped a hand around his ear, leaning closer to the half-elf. "You've gotta stop mumbling. Speak louder, half-elf."

"I said: the food here _SUCKS_!" Genis screamed into his roommate's ear, causing several people to stop and stare at them. Softer, he added, "I cook better."

"Psh. You can't cook," Mighty said accusingly. "What can you cook- toast?"

"Hmm. Just you watch." Genis leapt to his feet, purposefully striding towards the cafeteria. Mighty blinked a few times before getting up and following him, curious and a little confused. But when Genis bypassed the long line for food and marched straight into the kitchen, he understood. He quickly ran after the half-elf, tugging on his elbow.

"Hey, hey!" he said. "Students aren't allowed back here!"

"They'll make an exception for me, don't worry!" Genis said, casually snatching up an apron from the pegs on the wall. "Just act like you belong."

"What?" Mighty grabbed an apron as well, following Genis nervously past dozens of stovetops and ovens baking for the entire student body and staff. Genis found an empty stove and pulled out a frying pan, pointing a knife at Mighty.

"What do you want?" he asked, eyeing an icebox where perishable goods were stored.

"To eat?"

"No," Genis said, his face blank. After a moment's pause he shrugged. "No answer? OK, you'll eat what I give you."

"But I-"

"Hush hush hush!" Genis sang out cheerfully. "Genius at work here! Hmm, Genis the Genius. Ever notice the similarities?"

"Not really. I always thought it sounded like pe-"

Genis noisily rummaged through the icebox, drowning out Mighty's words. "Stir-fry," he said decisively, tossing the ingredients onto the pan and lighting a fire under the stove without so much as a single word of incantation to ready the spell. With the intense heat the fireball provided, the food was done in a little less than a minute. Scooping the sizzling, delicious heap onto a plate, he shoved it under Mighty's nose. "Eat," he ordered, whipping out a fork from somewhere on the counter.

"Uh…" Mighty said, but the aroma was getting to him. "No thanks," he managed to say. "You eat it."

"What's the matter?" Genis said, "I thought you were starving? What do you want then- pasta? Steak? There's nothing I can't cook."

"I'm just not going to eat anything _you_ cook."

"Shut up," Genis said, shoving a forkful of the stir-fry into Mighty's mouth. "It's delicious."

Mighty had to admit it was, if only to himself. He made a face, stepping back and trying to ignore the increasing frequency of his stomach earthquakes. He looked out to see that the line for food was still miles long and then glanced back at the plate Genis offered him.

He closed his eyes. "OK, fine. So maybe you cook OK. It's kinda _girly_ of you though."

"Girly? There's nothing girly about cooking. I happen to know a woman who can't cook to save her life." Genis paused, sighing. "Literally. And the best chef I know is a man. It's a common misconception- people just have these sorta pre-set rules for life and love and marriage. They think only the woman cooks; the guy brings home the bacon, yadda yadda yada." He waved his hand around dismissively before taking a taste of his own cooking, an almost experimental expression on his face. He seemed disappointed in the result.

"You don't like your own cooking?" Mighty asked, wanting to snatch the plate right out of the half-elves hands.

"Hmm? No, that's not it…" Genis glanced away. "Anyway, whenever I get married I don't care if the girl can cook or not. If I ever get married. Not sure though." He shrugged, shoving the plate back at Mighty. "Here, have it. The way things are going, I'm never going to get the girl I want."

"Ahhh, you've got a girlfriend hiding somewhere?" Mighty grinned through his mouthful of stir-fry.

"Something like that. We like each other a lot but… it's complicated." Genis suddenly seemed to snap to attention, glaring at Mighty. "Why am I telling _you_ this?" he demanded.

"I don't know. I guess we're friends, or something."

Genis made a face. "I guess," he agreed, somewhat reluctant.

"Heh. You know it's bad to obsess so much over one girl. If you don't get her in the end, what are you gonna do?"

"If I'm not gonna get married to her, I guess I'd like to be with this other guy. Not like that!" he added quickly as Mighty's jaw dropped open. "No, it's just I never really had a brother. This guy… I still don't know him too well, but I think if I could choose, I'd like someone like him… to be my brother…" Genis trailed off, rapping his fingers down on the counter. Or so he thought. When he glanced down he realized he had been putting his hand on the hot stove top. He quickly pulled his hand away before Mighty could notice it as well. "But I know I don't want to be alone. If I'm going to live for a long time, I'd like to be with someone. Because people need people. That's what someone close to me said, once."

Mighty slurped up the rest of his meal. "That was a touching speech."

"Damn it. I knew I shouldn't have spilled my guts to you."

"No, no, I'm serious!" he grinned, tauntingly.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Students aren't allowed in this area!"

Genis and Mighty stood up straight, giving each other glances of alarm. "See ya!" Genis said, shooting off in a seemingly random direction. Mighty tossed his bowl aside, desperately trying to follow him and take his route of escape. Genis didn't bother to see if he had made it or not, deftly undoing the knot on his apron and tossing it at a surprised chef as he passed by, exploding out the back doors as he made his escape.

_OK, OK, let's just find a place to lay low for an hour or so,_ he thought, stopping to take in his surroundings. _Think, Genis. You're in a school. Where's the last place everyone wants to be?_

He thought for a split second before running in the direction of the classrooms. He chuckled under his breath, slowing down as he ran through the hallways so he wouldn't attract much attention if the janitors happened to be about. _OK, if I take a left here, I'll find some of the math class- yaaah!_

Genis went sprawling in a spectacular heap of tangled limbs that would have made Colette proud. He quickly tried to get free of the person he had just knocked over, but the stranger grabbed at his arm, yanking him back onto the ground with an angry snarl.

"Watch where you're going, you little brat!" the silver-haired stranger said. Just from being near him, Genis could tell he was a half-elf. The tell-tale hair color was just the start- his ears were pointed, his features slim and effeminate, and of course Genis could feel the chaotic swirl of his mana floating all around him.

Anger flared in him. "Hey, I wasn't the one on the freaking floor! Who are you, old man?"

"O-old…? You take that back!"

"Not until you apologize for calling me 'little'!"

The half-elf opened his mouth to say something else, probably offensive, when he stopped and looked at Genis closely. Recognition flitted across his features before he smirked. "Being called 'little' still grates your nerves, huh brat?" He sighed at Genis's confued, blank look, and reached down to hold up the end of the cape he was wearing. He waved it in his face. "Still don't recognize me?"

"Y-Yuan?" Genis took a step back, a puzzled smile on his face before he remembered Yuan's lessons on how not to show emotion. "What are you doing here? And why were you on the _floor_?"

"Inspecting it for cleanliness, what else?" Yuan said, dismissively, until something on the floor caught his eye. He quickly stooped down and picked up the small jade ring, slipping it back onto his finger with a slightly guilty expression. He coughed.

"Lose your ring again?" Genis asked, grinning. "Maybe you should wear it around your neck, like on a chain or something."

"Did I ask you for your opinion?"

"No, but you need it."

"We're getting off the subject!" Yuan scowled before regaining his composure. "I'm here for Kloitz's Cruxis Crystal."

Genis tried for a sad face. "You didn't want to just visit me? Catch up on old times? Chat about- hey! Cut that out!" Yuan had taken a handful of Genis's hair and yanked hard.

"What's this?" he asked. "What- what's this? You dyed it _blue_?"

"You're one to talk!" Genis said, swiping a hand at Yuan. The seraphim deftly hopped back a few feet, clapping his hands as if to rid them of dust. "You dyed yours silver!" He charged after Yuan, punching out.

"The agreement was that whoever didn't subdue Kloitz had to dye his hair," Yuan said, catching Genis's fist with one hand and his upper arm with the other, twisting hard until Genis was on his knees, not in any real pain but knowing that his arm could break if he didn't do something. "You doped him up and sent him to jail, remember?"

Genis managed to break free, kicking out with both legs. Yuan simply hopped over the kick and landed squarely on where Genis had been lying before he rolled out of the way. Genis crouched a few feet away, one hand on the floor and one hand raised up in a fist.

"No, the agreement was 'Whoever _killed_ Kloitz had to dye his hair.' I never killed h_oof_!" Genis had his breath knocked out of him as Yuan moved faster than he could see, tackling him to the ground and pinning him there on his stomach, his arms both twisted on his back.

"Neither did I," Yuan agreed. "So it's fitting we both accepted that we lost. Now accept that you lost this battle just now, and kindly give me back the Crystal."

"But- but you gave it to me! You asked if I wanted to be an angel and I said yes." Genis squirmed, trying to get loose. "Geez, what's wrong? I said I'd come back when I was done with school."

"But I specifically told you not to try and unlock the seraphim powers on your own!" Yuan said, twisting Genis's arms viciously before remembering he probably couldn't feel anything. "Are you stupid or something? You wanna accidentally trap your soul away like we did with Colette?"

"I wanted to be stronger!"

"You're a moron!" He slapped Genis on the back of his head. "You can't even win in a fight against me without Lloyd to back you up. Now give me back the Crystal and go back to play school with the other children."

"I- I hate you!" Genis said, squirming, but Yuan had him pinned down tight. He couldn't escape. "You're not a brother to me, or anything else!"

"Yeah?" Yuan scowled. "Well… well next time, don't make me come all the way from the Triet Base to stop your dumb ass from killing yourself!" He tapped the Cruxis Crystal a few times and the bright, steady glow slowly dissipated. To test it, he gave Genis an experimental pinch on his shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Good enough," Yuan said, grimly, getting off the younger half-elf. He turned aside, wrapping his cape tighter around himself as he sighed. "If you don't do something stupid like that again, you can keep it. But you've got to choose- you can stay here and finish up with your school, or you can go back to Triet with me and I teach you how to use that thing. But not both." He looked up to see Genis getting to his feet, looking disoriented and dizzy. "Genis?" he asked. "Did you hear- ah!"

Genis lunged, catching the seraphim by surprise and pinning him down in exactly the same manner he had just done to Genis. "All right then!" Genis said, smiling with the same traces of almost manic energy they had seen in Kloitz. "Take me to Triet. Childhood dreams are overrated."


	4. The Pandora Paradox

A/N: Enjoy!

* * *

Ken Akamatsu twirled a cape around his shoulders, laughing in what he hoped was a sinister manner.

"All of you inferior beings cower before me! For lo, I am the mighty and terrible... Mithos Yggdrasial! RAWR!" He flared the ends of his borrowed cape up, roaring and gnashing his teeth. But instead of running away shrieking in delighted terror, like he had imagined they would, the children of Mizuho tackled him to the ground.

"Get his feet!"

"Make sure you tie his hands up!"

"Does anyone have a knife? Let's cut his hair off!"

"Hey hey HEY!" Ken pounded his fist against the ground a few times before it was snatched up and bound by nimble fingers. "This is _not_ the way this is supposed to- Mmmoh!" His words were cut off as they shoved a few rags into his mouth, lacking the proper gagging material. Ken's blue eyes widened and he wriggled on the ground, making angry, muffled noises as the children laughed. He spat out the rags, making a face, before reprimanding them from the ground.

"This is not how the dastardly Mithos Yggrasial was defeated by the nine heroes, you know!" he said. "Not all of them were ninjas in training! They didn't tie him up and- and and- and aahahahhahah! No! No _please_, I- I- ahahaha! No! No, no, stop tickling me! I'm a hardened warrior, do you hear me! Nooooohohohohohoho!" He writhed on the ground, tears of laughter streaming down his face, much to his eternal shame.

"And so Ken Akamatsu proves his mettle by being bested by children... again," Orochi said, watching from afar with Sheena by his side. He sighed.

"You don't honestly expect him to fight children with the intent to kill, do you?" Sheena asked, Gnome cuddled up in her arms as she stroked his soft brown fur. Currently, he was in the more familiar shape of a star-nosed mole, small beady eyes watching Ken with amusement.

"I just feel embarrassed for him, acting in such a way." Orochi shrugged, uncomfortably, pulling his mask down to reveal a scowl. "He might have the skills of a shinobi, but he lacks the discipline. He's still a foreigner and he still hasn't revealed to you, his chief, what his true name will be."

"Give him time," Sheena said. "He's still learning the language and customs, but he learns fast." She turned from him, walking towards a nearby grassy field where she could take off from. Her Rheiard was safely shrunk inside her pocket, with the Wing Pack. "Now that I am Chief, I'm taking a new stance on outsiders. Gnome?" She looked down at him, smiling. He quickly changed into a mouse and nestled in her pocket, again refusing to simply go back to his shrine until she called him again.

She stood, with one hand held out into a fist, glaring out at the rising sun. Unconsciously, her posture shifted to match that of a certain brown-haired swordsman, determined and ready for action. "We'll open our arms to change," she said to Orochi. "But not let that stop the traditions of old. We need a new, fluid mind that will adapt to this new, fluid world." Her cheeks turned red as she noticed the corniness of her stance. She smiled, self-consciously, and clasped her hands behind her back, scuffing her foot against the ground. "I've been reading some history books," she continued, "And I always see that a nation thrives and expands when there is cultural diffusion. An exchange of ideas... yeah..." she glanced down at Gnome, who grinned at her with his little mousy face. Feeling encouraged, Sheena pulled out her Rheiard. She hopped into the seat and started it up, hovering a few feet in the air before Orochi.

"I'm naming you Vice-Chief, Orochi," she said, after a moment of silence. "Tiga is aging, and I don't think there's a better man in this village to take the responsibility. Do you accept?"

"I do." He bowed, deeply.

Sheena grinned. "I'm glad you didn't let me down."

Orochi had his mask lowered, so she could see his smile. She could also see when he shook away his emotions and got back to business, again showing his concern for her. "But are you sure you don't want me to accompany you in finding my brother, Fujibayashi-sama?"

"Honestly, I would feel more secure if I was acting alone," she told him, and if she felt guilty she didn't show it. "You are his brother, after all. If it came down to killing him, I would understand if you had hesitations. He's the only family you have left." She gave her Rheiard controls a quick scan, doing a system check to see that the machinery was working at full potential. "You'll be the first person I report to when I-"

"Sheena, no." Orochi reached out, putting a hand over hers, stopping her from operating the Rheiard. "Kuchinawa... isn't the last thing I have. I still have you, Sheena." He had her hand clasped between both of his, now, and she couldn't look him in his eyes. "And maybe once we're married we can start anew with... with our _own_ family. We can watch it grow in this new world you made, and there's no one else I'd rather do that than you. I love you."

Sheena lowered the Rheiard so she could hug him tightly, her arms around his neck and his around her waist. "I love you too, Orochi," she said, busily wiping the tears from her eyes as she pulled back, flying away as fast as her Rheiard would take her. _But not the way you want me to._

* * *

Walking up the steps to the lavish mansion in Meltokio's noble district, she couldn't help but think of what it must be like to be as fabulously wealthy and respected as Pandora did. The very first thing she did when she arrived in Meltokio was to drop off her battle-worn purple kimono at a tailor's. She knew the owner, so there wasn't much explaining to do, just like she liked it. Quick and efficient. It would be done by tomorrow, he said, so she decided she would stay in Meltokio for a few hours before leaving to follow Kuchinawa.

She knocked on Pandora's door, which was almost instantly answered by a young woman in a frilly maid's uniform.

"Hi," she said to the maid. "I'm Sheena Fujibayashi of Mizuho. Your Mistress knows of me. Is she at home?"

"Can Pandora come out to play?" Gnome added from his place nestled in her pocket.

"Lady Epiphany has strict orders that you are to be allowed inside at all time, but I'm afraid the Mistress is not at her home this day. If you would care to wait here as a guest, you can see her when she returns from her business trip to Altamira."

_Business trip, yeah right. _

"No, thank you." Sheena bowed, politely, before remembering that she wasn't in Mizuho anymore. She flushed, turning and leaving before the maid could say anything else and ran to the post office. Because most of the original group was constantly on the move, Zelos had established a few mailboxes for them in Meltokio. Wherever they were, they could send letters to the address and whenever they stopped in Meltokio, even if they didn't have the time to say hello, they could always keep in touch.

Sheena coughed nervously as a few dozen unopened letters poured out of her box. She quickly gathered them up, discarding all the old ones from Zelos and only keeping the most recent. His were usually uninteresting, mainly promises of riches beyond her dreams if she married him (plz kthnx).

But the latest one, in Zelos's familiar messy handwriting, actually surprised her with its contents.

_Hey babe! _It started out, with a small doodle of Zelos at the top waving hello. _Come visit the mansion when you read this! Pippy and I miss you! I know you read your mail even though you ignore me when I ask you to go to parties! Anyway, Pippy is asking you for the favor this time around. Mighty fine shindig 16/8! Pippy being brat, will not attend even with threats of death and dismemberment. PLEEEEEEASE SHEENA MY SOCIAL STATUS IS AT STAKE! P.S. Botta smexy dress for you already so you HAVE to come!_

Sheena snorted, trying not to laugh at the doodle of a tiny Zelos. A tiny,_ angry_ Zelos. It was true that she hadn't visited him in a while, though she always made it a point to write to him whenever she ventured outside of Mizuho. She tucked the note into her pocket, looking at the five remaining letters. One from Regal, one from Presea, and two from Colette and Lloyd.

And one from Raine.

She stepped outside of the post office, letters all clenched tightly in one hand as she looked down at the plain white envelope. Raine. Raine never sent her letters. Raine never made any attempt to contact her at all. As far as Sheena was concerned, Raine had fallen off the edge of the world and never returned. A sudden burst of strong, cold winter wind howled past, snatching the envelope out of her limp fingers. She watched it go, fluttering along the road, before her willpower snapped. She took off after the letter, shoving past anyone in her way or jumping clear over them when she was impatient. She ricocheted off of a garden fence and leapt into the air, snatching the letter with the tips of her fingers. She landed in a spectacular heap onto the cobblestones of the noble's district. Hissing in pain at her scraped knee, she noticed the blood dripping freely, flowing down the street, crimson flowing crimson spreading through the water.

Sheena blinked, shaking her head fiercely and slapping her cheeks to try and get herself together. Standing and looking around her, she realized she had gained quite a bit of attention and flushed, running for the nearest sanctuary.

Zelos's mansion.

Opening the unlocked door, she slammed it shut behind her and leaned against it, still blushing. She had just made a fool of herself, and for what? She looked down at the letter in her hand, so innocent and unassuming. What was inside? She knew she should discard it, but she read it anyway.

_Sheena,_ it read. Sheena could almost hear her voice, reading it out loud to her. Her hands clenched down on the stark white sheet, shivering unhappily. She read it again. _Sheena._ Why was she torturing herself? She ripped the letter to shreds, her eyes burning with anger. Let the maids handle it.

She stalked over to one of Zelos's comfortable couches, plopping down and reading her other letters. Colette's were bubbly and full of news about the Ex-sphere hunt and the puppies, as usual. But it also hinted that things might not all be well, and asked if she could visit them sometime this week, as they were visiting Meltokio next. Presea had nothing but complaints about Regal's stuffiness and overbearing nature, while Regal asked only that she try to talk some sense into Presea, who had been acting more and more disagreeable over the past few months.

Sheena sat back, letting the letters drop down onto the coffee table. All of her friends seemed to be having troubles lately. Now that she was out of Mizuho, she needed to check the validity of her lead. But she also knew that she could catch up with her friends. She didn't want to lose track of any of them, even Genis, though he rarely ever sent her letters any more.

First, though, was the matter of Pandora and-

"Sheena!"

**CRASH!**

…Zelos.

Sheena found herself pinned down on the couch, Zelos squeezing her tight enough to crack ribs. "Squeee!" He said, nuzzling his nose against her neck. He reached up, unpinning her hair to let his hands run through it, whispering into her ear. "Sheena…"

"Wh-whoa!" Sheena flushed, wriggling in his embrace. "Zelos! What the heck?"

"I missed you so much…" he said, cerulean eyes heavy-lidded. He kissed her roughly, clasping his hand down onto her left breast to feel her heart beating.

**CRASH!**

Zelos found himself pinned onto the floor on his stomach as Pandora yanked his arms behind his back, her normally expressionless face a cold mask of anger. "I can not _believe_ you!" she said to her fiancé, securing his arms with a pair of handcuffs she pulled from seemingly nowhere.

The daughter of the head of the Meltokian Law Enforcement stood up straight, exhaling and smoothing back a strand of her ebon black hair. She put a hand to her hip, glaring once at Zelos before turning to a flustered and breathless Sheena, still on the couch in a state of shock.

"I'm sorry," she said, though by her emotionless face you wouldn't think so. "He's probably still drunk from that party this morning."

Zelos snored loudly from his place on the floor before a few maids arrived to tote him off to his room. Pandora tossed the keys to his handcuffs to one of them as they passed, her expression bored and tired.

"Ah… ah…" Sheena sat up, flushing so much it reached down to her neck. "Er.. I- I guess that explains a lot." She snapped to attention. "Hey, a-aren't you supposed to be in Altamira?" she asked, trying desperately to change the subject and forget it ever happened.

Pandora got the hint, shrugging and collapsing down onto the couch next to her, one booted foot propped up on the coffee table. Instead of her usual furs and silks, she wore one of Zelos's old shirts and a pair of laced leather pants, her endless black hair held up in a no-nonsense ponytail. "That's the excuse," she said, the edge of her mouth turning upwards in a smile. "This is how it works, my dear Sheena. I say that I am in Altamira for business matters. Automatically, everyone assumes I'm there to sample the beach and local cuisine. While that's not true, I'm still on vacation, and no one is the wiser. Especially my father and uncle."

Sheena had finally managed to get her blushing under control and smirked at Pandora. "Are you taking sneaky lessons from Zelos?"

"My dear, he's taking them from _me_."

Sheena smiled wider. "Hehe. Now I remember why I like you so much."

"You shouldn't." Pandora settled down on the couch, making herself comfortable. "It will make you more than a few enemies. So did you get Zelos's letter? Did he tell you what attending this party entailed?"

"He said he bought me a sexy dress, but that's about it."

Pandora sighed. "That figures," she said, shaking her head. "Princess Hilda's birthday is coming up. It's around the Harvest Festival, so generally they merge the two celebrations and have a masked ball, and he wants me there." Standing up suddenly, she began to pace around the room like a big cat. "But I have other plans."

"More important than that."

"Honestly, I've been to so many of these parties the novelty is wearing off. Which is why I'm asking you to go in my stead." She looked up at Sheena, the barest hint of emotion dancing behind her dark eyes. "Please? We look similar, so if you wear a mask, no one will know the difference. They can't see that Mizuho slant in your eyes."

"Don't give me the puppy eyes, Pandora…" Sheena complained, slamming her forehead down against the arm rest. "You know I'll do it anyway."

Pandora grinned; she reached out with both hands to lift her head back up and pinch her cheeks. "But I_ enjoy_ manipulating you, Sheena."

Sheena flushed. "Whatever. I'll be back in time for the party, but right now I gotta split. I only had enough time to only drop by for an hour or so." Standing up and moving Pandora's hands away, she made for the door.

She was blocked by Pandora's sword, whipped out of nowhere to rest on the door handle. "I don't think so," Pandora said, coolly. "I have some unfinished business with you still."

"Pandora, I _really_ have to go!" Sheena said, pushing the blade away. She was careful not to cut herself. "I'll fight you some other- Wah!" She rolled to the side as Pandora sliced again, not aiming for the door this time. Sheena crouched nearby, her cards at the ready.

"You're paying for any blood stains I get!" she warned her, one hand held to the shallow cut the sword had etched into her arm. Pandora didn't answer, instead lunging forward, the blade shining from the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

* * *

Pandora opened the door to Zelos's room a few hours later, sweat and blood trickling down her face. She didn't bother to knock. He was lying peacefully on his bed, his face buried into the soft down pillows. She unsheathed her sword, the blade so fine it rang with sound when the barest wind blew past it-

_Shhhhhhheennnnn_

-and raised it high, high above his head, plunging the point deep down.

_Tunk._

Zelos opened one eye, lazily turning his gaze to her towering over him. He wiggled his fingers- she had driven the tip of her sword down in the space between said appendages. "Are you trying to make a point?" he asked her, trying to hide his grin in the pillows. "A point, like, you're trying to say 'Stay away from my Ninjasweetiepie'?" He raised his hand a little, flicking the fine steel. _Ping_

"Ninjasweetiepie?" Pandora's eyebrows shot up.

"Or whatever pet name you have for her."

Pandora clambered up onto the bed, kneeling beside him on the mattress and holding onto the hilt of the sword with both hands, leaning forward to glare at him. "I'm trying to say, 'Zelos, I am angry with you for bringing Sheena into an argument between us.'"

"So you're saying, 'I'm very angry.'"

"I'm very… _very_… angry," she said. "Especially since I remember her mentioning you once made a promise to keep your hands off of her. You're willing to break that promise just to prove me wrong?" She leaned closer. "And you say you've changed? You're despicable."

Zelos couldn't hide his grin now. "Every word you say only proves my point more. You're never this passionate about somebody else, be it hatred or possessiveness or…" His eyebrow waggled. "…Maybe something else?"

"Maybe you should mind your own business," she snapped. "Maybe then you'd stop coming up with ridiculous conclusions."

He propped himself up on one elbow. "Is it so ridiculous? I'm definitely sensing something between you two, and you're not saying anything, and I'm getting suspicious. What am I supposed to believe?" Zelos puffed out a small breath, blowing his long hair out of his face. "If you're going to be my wife, aren't you supposed to share everything with me?"

"You've got to give to receive. You expect me to tell you my secrets when you disappear at night to go Goddess-knows-where?"

"But that's the catch, you see." He grinned again, snatching at her elbow to draw her closer. "You _know_ where I go at night. But _I_ don't know why you keep such a possessive attitude about Sheena."

"Trust me," Pandora said, "I wish I didn't."

He perked up at this. "You mean you wish you didn't have such a possessive attitude about-?" he started, the Devil twinkling behind his eyes before she slapped him and yanked her sword free from his mattress, the tips of her ears turning red.

"It's none of your business, Zelos!" she said, slapping him again, but the flustered look on her face was more stinging to Zelos than any blow. The flush had spread from her ears down her neck, tinting her cheeks a bright scarlet.

"No…." Zelos said, his eyes wide. He hadn't really believed… he'd suspected, but this… "No _way_."

Pandora put a hand to her face, looking away. "It's not what you think," she muttered, trying to get her emotions under control. "It's not. It's _not_. Goddess, only you could make me have this sort of- you're _impossible_ Zelos. Just…" She took a few steps back. "Just give me a week. I'll have your answer by then."

"But…" Zelos could only smile, dazed and confused. "Why else would you be acting this way?"

She flushed again. "I'm- I'm-" She looked around her, desperately trying to find some route of escape. "I'm going to go take a bath!" she shouted, turning and leaving. She slammed the door shut behind her so loud it reverberated through the entire house.

Zelos sank back into the pillows, twirling a crimson strand of hair in one finger as he watched the closed door, as if his eyes could pierce through the wood and spy her storming away. That was the most emotion he'd seen her display since they had… well… He grinned.

A maid entered the door, curtseying politely. "You have a visitor, Master Zelos."

"…Huh," he said. "Who?"

"Raine Sage," the maid said, curtseying again and leaving.

* * *

"…Raine," Sheena said, clutching the towel tightly to her chest. She tried to breath but her chest was too tight. Her wet hair steadily dripped onto the carpet, a rivulet of water trailing down her shoulder to fall from her elbow, down, down, down, _plip, plip, plip._

Raine gave no reaction, reclining easily on one of Zelos's couches, one leg tossed over the other as she stared Sheena down. So cold. So cold. So angry. Sheena flushed with shame, turning tail and running away to Goddess-knew-where in this maze Zelos called his house. Dimly, she became aware of someone chasing her, of wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her, keeping her from running further. Her shoulders began to shake.

"Slow down!" Zelos said, turning her around so he could hug her. "Hey, hey, slow down! It can't be that bad, Sheena. You have to face her sometime."

She shook her head against his chest, her chest heaving. "No, no, no!" she said, her voice raw. "I can't! I can't! Oh Goddess! She still hates me! She hates me! She hates me even now I_ knew_ she would never forgive me! Didn't you see the way she looked at me? Zelos…" She looked up at him and her eyes widened and she pushed him away with one hand, the other one holding her towel up as protection.

Why did he look so guilty? Did he recall what he did when he was drunk? She glanced away, covering her chest with both arms. No… it was probably pity. "…Just go," she said.

"Sheena-"

"Just… go, OK?" She said, closing her eyes as she felt her face begin to get hot again. "Tell her I jumped out a window or something."

She expected him to argue, but he didn't. Instead he bit his lip. "I won't ask questions just this once," he said, turning and leaving. "Your room is on the third floor, fifth corridor. Second to the left."

"…Yeah…" she said, turning away in case he looked over his shoulder, her arms still held protectively. "…Thanks."

* * *

A/N: Rah! Fourth chapter. 3,873 words. I'd have posted it sooner but I've been sucked into what must be the worst show in the world- "Strawberry Panic". Really. It's just bad. REALLY bad. Yet somehow I find myself addicted to the corniness of it. Ah well. I like the theme song to it. And those of you who noticed Pandora acting a little touchy-feely towards Sheena in the later chapters of "RUNAWAY" might have seen this coming. (All two of you!) But trust her when she says "It's not what you think."

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome! Remember that I'll still upload even if I get no review, but I'm also a Review Whore. I'm just good at hiding it. Or I think I am. I might be really obvious. BUT I SHALL PREVAIL. Sorry if the ending seemed rushed.

Next Chapter- COMBO! Genis and Yuan.


	5. Combo! Genis and Yuan

Mesha- "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra (covered by Reel Big Fish).

Genis- "Epiphany" by Bad Religion.

Raine- "November Rain" by Guns N Roses.

Regal- "Selfless, Cold, and Composed" by Ben Folds Five.

* * *

"You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Genis stood in Yuan's plush Triet office, his arms crossed as he looked at the daunting pile of paperwork on Yuan's desk. He let his eyes trail from the mountain, along the wall until he met the seraphim's aqua eyes, unreadable to most. But Genis saw the smug smile hiding behind the surface.

"No way," he said. "This was not a part of the agreement."

"Oh _reeeeeeeeally_?"

Genis's eyebrow twitched and he glanced away, his mouth set in a straight, angry line. "If I wanted to do desk work I would have stayed in school," he said.

"There's more to my teaching than beating people up," Yuan said, gliding past Genis, his shoulder-length hair held back by a silver clasp. It was nowhere near as long as it had been during the journey of World Reunification, but habits were hard to break. He perched in his chair, clasping his hands together on top of his desk.

"I think there's not much you can teach me academically, Yuan," Genis said dryly. "I'm Genis the Genius, remember?"

"This is money business, boy," Yuan said, taking a pencil and tapping it against the desk sharply. "Do you know how to run a company effectively? What experience do you have? Unlike your dear friends Bryant and Wilder, you have none, which is why I'm going to teach you." He leaned back, balancing on the rear legs of his chair. "You'll need to for what I have in mind."

Genis sighed a long-suffering sigh before slowly setting himself down on a chair, staring at Yuan over the desk and piles of paperwork. "Let me guess- you're not gonna tell me what it is until I go with the script you have planned. The one where I say "What do you have in mind, Yuan?" and then you get to have a long-winded explanation on your master plan." He sat back in his chair, making a face.

There was a long pause as Yuan coughed, shuffling and ordering the papers on his desk before he sharpened the pencil and began to work, the only sound in the room the steady _skrritch skrritch skrritch_ of the lead.

Genis sighed again. "What do you have in mind, Yuan?"

Yuan looked up from his paperwork, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "I'm going to revive the Renegades," he said, grinning viciously before returning to his paperwork. "Scoot closer. I want you to watch me as I do this so I can explain what this all means."

* * *

Raine stood on the rooftop, mindlessly running her finger through her hair as the wind howled around her. Zelos approached her as silently as he could, but she noticed him at once and turned around, her arms crossed and her face set cold as stone.

"Um… Professor, baby," Zelos said, scratching his chin awkwardly. "I think you should go talk to Sheena."

She stared him down, her lilac eyes burning. Eventually he had to look away. "I tried already," she said. "It's up to her if she wants to talk to me. She's the one who's always running away." Shrugging, she put a hand on a small black Rheiard. "I trust this one is able to keep up with the bigger models?" she asked, effortlessly changing the subject.

"…Yeah," Zelos said. "Only the best for Baby Doll." He grinned. "That's my pet name for-"

"I had figured as much," Raine said, coldly. She shrunk Mesha's new Rheiard. "This is all I need for now, Zelos. I'll be seeing you." She pulled out her Rheiard and hopped on, revving up the engine until the steady purr took up all her hearing. But as she flew away, she tossed a small brown package to Zelos, who fumbled it in his hands a bit, trying not to drop it. When she was only a small speck heading towards the outskirts of the city, he stood and stared after her, frowning.

He looked down at the package. Scrawled on top was:

"Please give this to Sheena."

* * *

"Oh Goddess, _why_ does it have to be so _expensive_?"

Mesha pressed her face against the store glass at the deceptively dainty necklace on display, all but moaning in desire. Harley laughed, tugging at her ear to get her attention. "Hey poor girl," he said, "Maybe you should try looking through shops that aren't meant for the richest people in the world."

"But this is gorgeous," she said, her emerald eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "It reminds me of the necklace Mommy- err…!" She glanced at Harley, laughing. "Err, I mean, the necklace _Mother_ used to wear."

Harley adjusted his bandanna before shrugging. "The label thing says this was handcrafted by elves, so that figures." Checking his watch, he added, "And it's about time we cut this shopping spree short. Let's beat it, Mesha." Not waiting for a response, he tugged at her ear, pulling her along.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Mesha followed, stepping quickly to keep up. "Harley! You're being mean again!"

"Too bad. The Professor isn't going to wait indefinitely."

"But you don't have to pull on my ear! Let go!"

He deftly ignored her, weaving his way through the crowd with a small smile on his face. "Nope. Sorry."

"Harley-! Harley! Stop!" she finally snapped, slapping at his wrist until he let her go. She brought herself to her full height of four feet and ten inches, glaring up at him. "You don't have to treat me like I'm a kid! Because I'm not! I'm just…small!" She flushed, feeling foolish as she realized that reminding him of her height was not the best way to intimidate him.

"Yeah, but we're gonna be late, Mesha, so hurry up if you don't want me to drag you along," he said, rolling his eyes and shoving his hands into his pockets, continuing on through the mid-day shoppers. She did her best to keep up, trying to keep in his wake as he carelessly pushed people aside to make way. They didn't seem to mind, not even turning their heads to acknowledge him. Meltokio was a strange place…

They reached the city gates without incident, walking past the Law Enforcement Knights stationed there. "I remember a time when half-elves would be stopped at the gate and searched for no reason at all," he said, but with a large, cheerful grin on his face. He noticed the Professor a little way out into the outskirts of the city, floating a few feet above the ground on her bright red Rheiard and scribbling something down into a notebook. He yelled and waved to her, breaking out into a trot with Mesha hot on his heels.

She snapped the notebook shut as they approached, putting it away in one of her endless pockets. "I've got your Rheiard, Mesha," she said. Pushing a button on her Wing Pack, she made the child-sized Rheiard spring up from nowhere.

"So cool!" she said. "Now I'm really your student, Professor!"

"Not in the traditional sense, though," Raine corrected, though she couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Where do we go first?"

Mesha stopped. "Uh, don't you decide that, Professor?"

Raine shook her head. "Not really." She leaned forward, draping her arms over the handlebars to the Rheiards and resting her cheek against the controls. "There's no set schedule or anything like that. I teach as I travel."

"If that's the case… uh…" Mesha looked to Harley for guidance.

"Asgard!" he said.

"Yes, Asgard!" she leapt up into the air. "I've always read about it! Let's go to Asgard next!"

Raine managed to smile at her. "Before I start teaching you how to fly, though, I need to set down some rules."

"Oh yes. Absolutely." Mesha nodded, glancing at her Rheiard every so often.

"First off, you should always do as I say," Raine said. "We might go into dangerous places where not following my orders can mean your life." She was silent for a moment before sitting back in the rider's seat, smiling again. "And that's it."

"What?"

"That's the only rule."

Mesha blinked. Then she smiled back at Raine, hopping onto her Rheiard and bouncing in the seat. "All right then! Teach me everything you know, Professor. I won't let you down."

"Heh." She tossed her silver hair back out of her face. "Failure isn't an option with me as your teacher, Mesha. Start up your Rheiard."

* * *

"Ohhhh my Goooooooodddessss this is so booooooriinnnnng!" Genis moaned, grabbing at his spiky blue hair and tugging at it, slamming his head against Yuan's desk. **Tunk**. "Yuan," he said. **Tunk**. "Yuan."** Tunk**. "Yuan." **Tunk.** "_Yuan_!" **TUNK**!

Yuan put his pencil down slowly, trying to concentrate on not losing his temper. Finally gaining some control over his emotions, he glared up at the younger half-elf. "What."

"Fight me."

"No. We're working with papers today."'

"That's what we've been doing all week! My legs are dying! _Dying_! Look-" he reached down and grabbed at his ankle, hefting it up and slamming his foot down onto the table. "For the past few minutes I've been trying not to shriek because the feeling went out of my leg only to come back just this very moment!" He paused, his eyebrow twitching as he bit his lip. "Oh, screw it. _Heeeeyaaaargh_!"

Yuan grimaced, rolling up a few papers and smacking Genis upside the head. "Will you stop being so melodramatic?" he demanded. "You're a half-elf! What's a few days learning how to do something productive? I swear, you're turning into Lloyd. You've got the ridiculous hair and everything."

"In a few days I could be learning how to fight with a sword," Genis muttered, his face pressed against the wood. "I could be in Meltokio."

Yuan's eyebrow rose. "Meltokio? You're not one for high society, Genis." He unrolled the papers he had been abusing Genis with, straightening them out on his desk and trying to find where he had left off.

"Yeah but I have a friend in Meltokio and I really wanna go visit her!" Genis said. "It was different before 'cause I was still in school, but now that I'm out I just wanna run up to her and go 'Hey! Guess what! We don't have to wait until summer vacation now!'" He jumped out of his seat, assuming a boxing position. "And then we could pick up where we left off, because she was teaching me how to-"

Genis paused, flushing as he noticed Yuan watching him, eyes narrowed yet unblinking. He quickly sat back down, his hands resting on his lap and his attention trained on the papers. "Uh, yeah. I've been taking monthly lessons from her how to fight and things."

"…I see," Yuan said, gnawing at the end of his pencil as he rocked back in his chair, his eyebrows still risen. "Pandora Epiphany, she's the one, isn't she?" He bared his teeth in a mocking grin. "Little Miss Princess. I remember her from when we were hunting down Kloitz."

"Yeah. She's amazing," Genis said, nodding. "I mean, not only is she super-rich and intelligent, but she's spent most of her life just trying to be a knight like her dad. Adoptive dad." He corrected himself. "She was adopted."

"Oho!" Yuan grinned wider, the papers completely forgotten. "Little Miss Princess is more than she seems. So she's the one who's got you all fired up about being stronger, this little princess friend of yours?"

"Yes. It's embarrassing that I'm always getting my ass handed to me by a girl who's half my size," Genis said. Quickly, he added, "She always makes me take my Ex-sphere off before we spar, so I can't use that to my advantage."

"I was about to say…" Yuan shook his head. "So… what? You want me to give you a break so you can go visit your friend?"

Genis sat back, waiting for the trap. He watched Yuan, trying to think of how he could turn Genis's answer into an insult. After a few moments, he said, "Well, don't you ever miss your friends?"

His Inner Genis did a victory dance at the look on Yuan's face, no matter how quickly the seraphim wiped it away. He busily turned back to his paperwork. "I don't have any friends," he said.

"But you've got _me_!" Genis said, his eyes wide and innocent. "Aren't we buddies?"

"Why would I ever befriend a miscreant like you?" Yuan muttered.

"Oho, I can tell you're getting angry!" Genis said, tugging at Yuan's silver hair. He shifted in his chair until he was resting on his knees so he could reach over the desk to grab Yuan's head and tilt it from side to side. "I can tell, you're reaching deep, deep into your vocabulary for the words to describe your anger! Don't try to hide it now."

"Sit down, Genis." Yuan slapped his hands away.

"You know I'm your hero."

"Ugh. I get it now. You're feeling antsy because you need to go visit your girlfriend." Yuan snorted, sneering at Genis. "You teenagers and your hormones."

"Hey! Pandora's _just_ my friend, ok? Plus she's engaged to Zelos. Plus she's a year older than me, which disturbs me to no end."

"Plus," Yuan grinned, "She's a she."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means."

"Hey, I thought this was a clean fight. No hitting below the belt."

"Heh heh heh heh, but you _like_ it below the belt, don't you Genis?"

"You want me to rip that Cruxis Crystal right out of your wrist, Homo Sera-_feme_?"

"Boy, you cannot even lay a finger on me. And does long hair automatically make me femin-? Oof!" Yuan's chair was knocked back as Genis lunged at him, getting them both tangled in his flowing blue cape. Genis grinned, remembering moves both Yuan and Pandora had taught him when fighting hand-to-hand. Catching Yuan by surprise like he did gave him an advantage- but a small one. Four thousand years of training kicked in and soon Genis found his face smooshed against the tiles- as he almost always ended up when they fought. Yuan pinned him down, twisting his arms behind his back and locking their legs together, keeping him from being able to so much as wriggle.

"I daid a finga aun joo," Genis said as best as he could with his mouth pressed against the floor.

"Ugh," Yuan said. "I wasn't talking literally." He got off of Genis, sitting on the floor and blowing a strand of silver hair out of his face. "You want to go to Meltokio that badly?"

"Uh, duh," Genis said. "I'm sure you wish you could go to Derris-Kharlan to go see Kratos, too! Didn't you miss him when he left?"

Yuan tilted his head from side to side, sighing. "Not particularly. Now get up and get out of here before I change my mind."

"Oh… so you do miss him…" Genis's eyes became moist with false emotion. "How tragic."

"Get the hell out of here!" Yuan snapped, kicking out with one foot. Genis nimbly dodged it, scrabbling to his feet and zipping away, the sound of his chuckles following him through the hallways of the Triet Base. Yuan sighed, getting to his knees and picking up the papers Genis had knocked over when he had slid across the desk to tackle Yuan. He allowed his stern features to relax, now that he was alone, and sat back down at his desk. Leaning back and closing his eyes, he let the silence of the Triet Base sink into him. He placed the papers on his lap, pressing a slender finger against his cheek, prodding at where Genis had punched him. Only the faintest of feelings, a bare twinge of pain. Now that his Cruxis Crystal was partially broken, Yuan could sometimes feel things like the cold, and… pain. And emotions.

"Ugh," he slapped at his forehead, leaning forward. This _pressure_ in his chest. And the silence of the Triet Base, once full of his soldiers, seemed to make it worse. He had thought the silence from Genis's neverending chatter would be a relief.

And ugh! He glanced over at his faintly glowing Crystal, pulsing with its own light. The brother of that fool. If _it wasn't for _him_, I wouldn't have these feelings._

_Tunk tunk tunk tunk._ Yuan's head snapped up at the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. His heart sank. Goddess, no! He didn't mean it! He _liked_ Genis being gone! Now he would never shut up!

"Yuan!" Genis said. The blue-haired seraphim twitched. "Yuan, about Kratos-"

Oh, that just tears it. Yuan stood up, slamming the flat of his palms down on the desk. "Yes!" He yelled. "Yes, it's true!" He grabbed up the papers that had been in his lap, tossing them into the air. "I'll admit it, if it just means you'll leave me in _peace_! I miss him! I miss him and I don't _care_ who hears it!" He whirled around to tackle Genis to the ground again, but froze mid-step, clapping a hand to his mouth so fast he almost felt the pain.

Kratos watched him from behind the rain of cascading papers, his eyebrows gently raised in a mildly surprised expression. "Yuan," he said, smiling. "It's good to see you too."

* * *

A/N: THE RETURN OF KRATOS! But why? Are things not going well? Is there DANGER? Is there a THREAT from Derris-Kharlan? Oh my! And by the way if anyone could suggest a theme song for Presea gimme a link to the lyrics, please. This chapter wasn't very long... but eh. Pretty soon I'll be introducing one of the major plot lines- and the next poll! Remember I promised you guys a poll? I think you'll like this one...

Next Chapter- "Talented"


	6. Father can you hear me?

A/N: If this chapter is a little extreme, don't blame me. Blame the Extreme Fairy who leaves it under my pillow at night. And I KNOW I said the next chapter was "Talented" but I forgot about my Sheena-Raine-Sheena-Raine chapter design. The next Raine chapter is gonna be called "Talented". Enjoy! (Man, if this were an Exalted game I would SO get points for stunts…) This one turned out 5,000 words long. I was just in the shower thinking of what the heck I was going to do next when this scene struck me. I was running around the house shrieking "EUREKA! EUREKA!" and my mother was _very_ worried.

* * *

Sheena sat on the edge of her bed, mindlessly running one of Zelos's combs through her hair. She barely looked up when Pandora entered without knocking, softly closing the door behind her. The half-elf noble sat down next to her, tucking her legs under her as she played with the tassels on one of the throw pillows. Sheena tried to ignore her, but Pandora was obviously more patient than she was. 

"What, are you here to comfort me?" she finally asked, putting the comb down.

"Psh," Pandora collapsed back onto the bed. "Who do you think I am- Zelos? No, no. Comforting people requests that you have emotions."

Sheena rolled her eyes. "Pandora, I've… loved someone, even when something happened to them that made them lose their emotions. I know the real deal when I see it."

Pandora's ears seemed to perk as she quickly sat up. "What, really?" she asked, grinning. "Who?"

Sheena flushed. "Oh, come _on_! Who do you know that lost their emotions besides Cole- I mean, besides… besides that person? Is that a common occurrence in the life of Pandora Epiphany? Huh?" she said, wondering again at why Pandora never seemed to lose control of her emotions the way Sheena always was. They were alike in so many other ways; it made Sheena wonder if maybe someone from Pandora's human heredity might be from Mizuho. It certainly wasn't impossible- if Genis had a brother, why couldn't she have a sister?

She glanced over at Pandora, who only gave her a thin smile. Flushing, she quickly glanced away again. Nope. No Mizuho in _her_ bloodline, Sheena could tell. Her thoughts had, as per usual, only been wishful thinking.

Pandora's face suddenly loomed into her line of vision. "You're dripping water all over Zelos's floor, Sheena," she said, her voice wry.

Sheena shrugged. Gathering up her hair and squeezing it, she unleashed a small shower on the rich carpet. Pandora smiled at that, standing up and stretching her arms high above her head. "So where are you headed off to now, mysterious Shinobi of Mizuho?"

Silence.

Pandora looked over her shoulder at Sheena, who was staring at the palm of her hand. Her dark eyes were glazed over, but her lips were pressed together so tight they were only thin pale stripes. "Sheena?" She walked closer, tentatively putting a hand on Sheena's shoulder. Sheena jumped back to reality, blinking a few times and quickly wiping her hand on her pant leg.

"Uh, what?" she asked, swallowing nervously.

"…I asked where you were headed next," Pandora said.

"Izoo- ….Triet," Sheena said after a moment of deliberation. "Wanna tag along?"

"No thanks. I've got a week to take a break from being Pandora Epiphany, daughter of Charles Epiphany, and I want to spend it in peace and silence." Pandora tapped a finger against the pommel of her sword, examining Sheena from head to toe. "But maybe you should ask Zelos to come. You don't look too well, and I don't want you falling off of your Rheiard."

"I'm fine," Sheena said quickly. She put a hand to her still damp hair, squeezing the last dregs of water out before standing up and glancing at her palm again. She was silent for a moment, her hands held out before her with the palms facing upwards.

"…Pandora?" she asked when that brief, tense moment of silence was done. Looking up with an odd expression on her face; she held out her palm to the half-elf. "What do you see when you look at my hand?"

Pandora took Sheena's hand in her own, her expression soft and neutral. "What am I looking for?" she asked.

"Blood," Sheena said. "Is there blood on my hand?"

Pandora shook her head. Letting go of Sheena's hand, their dark eyes locked. "I only see the water from your hair." Turning around, she walked to the door and locked it shut as quietly as she could. "Maybe," she said, "You should stay here for a while and get some rest- Sheena, no!"

When Pandora had turned back around, Sheena had slid the window open and leapt out, her long black hair trailing behind her like a cape. Pandora ran to the window, her eyes darting around Zelos's gardens, but the ninja was nowhere to be found.

_Tok tok tok tok tok!_

"Oh Sheena darling!" Zelos warbled through the door. "Hmm? The doors are locked? Are you changing? Hmmm? You don't want me to walk in at a wrong moment, is that it? Oh, you tease…"

Pandora swung open the door, glaring at Zelos.

"Pandora?" He asked, bemused, before grinning again. "I see! Two girls in a locked room. _Risqué_. Well, when you're done putting the moves on your ninja-sweetie-pie, can you give her this?" he handed her a small brown package. "Is she even in there?"

"She jumped out the window," Pandora sighed, shoving the package back into his hands.

"She got scared when you started being too 'forceful', huh? Or do handcuffs turn her off?"

_SMACK!_

Pandora looked away from Zelos, who was sprawled on the floor with a sizable lump growing on his head. Her eyebrow twitched once in annoyance before she stormed past him down the hallways to the roof. "Whoahey!" He called out, getting on all fours and reaching out after her, though she was far out of his grasp. "Where are you going?"

"Triet!" She yelled back at him, stomping up the stairs.

* * *

Sheena flew at full speed through the icy, needling rain. Night had already fallen since she had taken off from Meltokio and the thick storm clouds didn't help her vision much. She flew over the raging ocean, not slowing down as she reached with one hand to the small storage compartment on the side of her Rheiard. She rummaged around for a pair of goggles. _Dammit_, she thought, finding nothing but maps and turning her attention back to driving. _I'm not crazy, dammit! There _was_ blood on my hands!_

She stuck a hand in her pocket to run a finger along Gnome's soft, warm fur. He hopped into the palm of her hand, scrambling up her sleeve to cling onto her shoulder, his head next to her ear. "I think there are enemies nearby, Sheena!" he yelled. "Be careful!"

Would her Summon Spirits notice if there was something wrong with her? Even if they did, could they refuse an order from her? Technically the pact with her had been completed. She'd set out and done what she said she'd do: create a world where everyone could live in peace.

_Could_ live in peace. That didn't mean they _would_.

"Sheena! Look out!"

Sheena instinctively barrel-rolled a few yards to her right, barely able to register a gargantuan dark shape zooming past where she had been flying moments before. "Thanks, Gnome," she said, glancing at the foaming ocean waters beneath her. _Frickin' A._ Looking up again, she saw the dark shape had wheeled around for another strike, screeching out a cry sharp enough to make her ears throb.

"I call upon the Maiden of the Mists!" Sheena said, feeling the power of the Summon Spirit of water well up inside of her. "I summon thee! Come, Undine! Attack that creature!"

Suddenly, the ocean waves grew in intensity, reaching up in forty-foot crests. The soft white foam writhed, forming tiny hands that grabbed at the creature, wrapping around it and hampering its movements. The winged creature writhed in the grasp of the thousands of tendrils of water, clawing through insubstantial chains that dragged it down into the dark depths of the ocean to be crushed by the water pressure. That is, if it didn't drown before then.

"Freaking monsters…" Sheena said to Gnome. He squeaked his agreement.

CRASH!

Sheena's head snapped down to see the creature breaking free from Undine's clutches and screeching again, almost making her faint with the unearthly noise. It flapped its wings, opening its cavernous maw wide. Sheena saw the sparks before a huge belch of white-hot flames erupted from the creature's mouth. It missed her, but the fiery stream was so close she could feel the steam rising off of her water-drenched clothing. Sheena swerved as the creature zipped past again, roaring and swiping out with its gleaming, sharp claws.

_A fire dragon? But the water…_ She shook her head before she sped up, aiming for a head-on collision with the flying creature. Sheena cursed under her breath, veering to the side at the last minute, pulling out a handful of small daggers and hurling them at the creature as she dashed by its serpentine head. But even though she aimed where the eyes should be, all she heard was a faint metallic clang and the dim silhouette of her daggers falling down into the ocean. The rain clouds parted for a split second, letting the moon's light spill out over the creature for a brief second before enshrouding the night with darkness once more.

The creature had reflected the light.

"Gnome," she said quickly, water spraying from her mouth as the rain only slammed down harder with the sudden appearance of the elemental master of Water. "What is it? It just can't be a fire dragon."

"Uhh…" the mouse shook his head.

"Is it Earth-element?" she snapped.

"No!" he said, indignant.

"Wind?"

"No…"

"Darkness?"

"Nuh-uh."

"_Water_?"

"No."

"C'mon, Gnome!" Sheena said her voice on the edge of panic. "You've gotta help me out here! What do I use against it?" The creature opened its mouth again, flames spewing out, reaching for her with greedy arms. She sped off in another direction, the dragon hot on her heels and screaming out its anger.

"I don't know!" he yelled, nipping at her ear in frustration. "I don't _know_. I can't feel anything from it, Sheena! It doesn't _have_ an eleme- _shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit_!" Gnome clutched onto her ear as tight as he could as she made a sharp and sudden nose dive- right towards the frothing ocean surface.

"Undine, Sylph! **Now**!" Sheena closed her eyes.

There was no splash. When Sheena dared to breath again, she tenderly cracked one eyelid open to see the infinite darkness spread out before her. Growing bold, she opened both her eyes and looked around her, her Rheiard slowly cruising underwater in its own protective air bubble. Faintly, she could see a lithe, feminine profile swimming just outside her bubble. Sheena waved hello at the familiar sight of her first real Summon Spirit while Gnome, in a cat form, clambered into her arms and nuzzled his head under her chin. Trusting the Sylph to keep her aloft, she let go of the handlebars and held him, trying to keep herself from shaking. She'd used this underwater trick before, but never at such a high speed.

"That was _not_ a dragon," she said out loud to her Summon Spirits.

"No…" Gnome agreed. "I know every living thing that comes from Mother Earth, and that was not one of them."

"Well, whatever it is, I need to kick its ass and I can't do that if I'm flying or floating. Gnome, where's the nearest land?"

"Ummmm," the tom cat wriggled in her arms, clenching his eyes shut as he concentrated. "I think in a sort of that-way direction," he said, pointing to Sheena's left. "There's a small island with no vegetation over there. Deserted, no people, and it's like five minutes away."

"Right. I'll go back to the surface and grab its attention; after that I'll head to the island and _then_ kick its ass."

"…Good plan," Gnome said.

"Yeah? Thanks."

Gnome opened his mouth to respond again when Sheena was suddenly thrust forward, a massive wave pushing at her air bubble and sending her Rheiard tumbling head over heels. Sheena grabbed at the handlebars, righting herself and speeding away as the creature gave chase, powerful claws cutting cleanly through the water. Gnome changed back into a mouse and buried himself into her pocket once more, utterly useless here where even the ocean floor was miles away. "It can _swim_?" Sheena cried, looking over her shoulder as she accelerated. "Undine, do something! It's surrounded by _water_ for Martel's sake!"

_Whatever this creature is, it is unaffected by even the greatest water pressure,_ Undine droned into her mind as another jet of fire shot past her, hot enough to evaporate the water around it. She was not safe, even surrounded in the element that should have a fire dragon writhing in pain she was not safe. Great! An invincible, element-less monster. Time to pull out the big guns, though it would take considerably longer to summon a powerful spirit like Maxwell, not to mention she was already worn out from calling Undine and the Sylph. At least Gnome didn't take up any of her mana since he had come of his own accord.

But wait… to buy her time while calling Maxwell, she could…

"OK! Sylph, Undine, use all your strength to push me up out of the water and then get the hell outta here!" Sheena commanded, angling her Rheiard so the nose faced the surface of the water. The gnashing, shining teeth of the creature actually managed to brush against the silk of her obi before she gave the order.

"Ready? Go!"

_As you command._

_Sure thing baby!_

Sheena was lifted up out of the water with such explosive force she thought she might just pass out. She was slicing through the sky, feeling as though if she kept going she could touch the stars…. Clutching at the handlebar with one hand, she guided it up, certain that the beast was far behind her now. Squeezing the Rheiard between her knees, she turned in her seat and wrenched the Rheiard along with her so that she sat suspended, upside down to whip her free hand, palm out, at the creature below her. The monster was just emerging from the ocean, maw opened wide to unleash another white-hot surge of flame.

"Celsius! Freeze it!"

The Summon Spirit of ice materialized in front of the pillar of fire, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. Holding up one tightly clenched fist, she thrust a beam of ice, freezing the pillar of fire and traveling down, completely encasing it, the monster, and the surrounding yards of ocean in a crystal clear sheet of solid ice.

Sheena started her slow descent in lazy spirals, her heart throbbing in her chest and her mind hurting from the overuse of mana. She let herself relax, taking deep, slow breaths to regain her strength. "Thank you…" she said to Celsius when she reached the monster. "So much."

"Peh. Don't even bother summoning the old fool to finish it off," the girl-shaped Summon Spirit said to her out loud, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "That dragon won't be going anywhere for the next century or so."

Sheena, too tired to argue or ask how Celsius knew she was trying to contact Maxwell, silently called off the summon. She rested her forehead against the control, blindly groping at the side of her Rheiard in the darkness for the compartment where she stored her gels. Finding it, she opened it up and her hands brushed against several jars of the life-saving stuff and…

…her goggles.

She conked her head against the controls hard enough to make a small hollow sound. "Goddess…damn… it… all…" she panted, pulling out the jar of pineapple gel as she did so.

"If you won't be needing any further assistance with dragons, my master…?"

"Yeah, you can go," Sheena grumbled, scooping a healthy portion out of her jar. In a flash of colored light, Celsius teleported back to her shrine where she would wait for another summon. Sheena glanced at the digital clock on her Rheiard, groaning at how much time she had lost fighting dragon-things. And speaking of such things… hovering a little closer to the ensnared beast, her dark eyes darting over the bolts and welded plates of metal, she let a small noise of confusion escape from her mouth.

"Huh?"

A robot?

She glided around the impromptu ice sculpture, weariness forgotten in light of this new puzzle. The rain had finally let up and the clouds meandered across the sky, again letting the moon show her face to the world. The light made the ice and metal plating glitter beautifully enough to rival the stars, and illuminated a small patch of metal she might have otherwise overlooked. Branded onto the 'thigh' of the creature was an eerily familiar insignia, though she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. But her attention was soon shifted to something else, something that made her pulse slow and her mind fog.

Gazing mindlessly at a patch of ice, she looked at her dozens of reflections; suddenly serene, she reached out and put a palm against the ice. Her eye glazed over, entranced as she saw it once more: the repeating vision. Swirling, wriggling, churning eddies of red tendrils, branching out, out, out.

_Krick._

Sheena snapped out of her trance, her heart stopping for a moment. She heard it again, much louder this time:

_Krriickckraaaaaaakt!_

"Oh _shi-_!"

Sheena's engine roared to life and she darted out of the way as huge chunks of ice began to crack and crumble, falling down with mammoth splashes as it hit the water below. The creature's head broke free first, allowing it to shriek that ungodly noise before blowing out another fireball at her. Sheena almost gagged as the ends of her hair were singed, sending the putrid smell her way as she flew in reverse to avoid a swiping blow from one of the monster's claws.

"Sheena!" Gnome yelled at her as she swooped and dodged in midair, rolling and flying in loops to avoid thrashing limbs and the ever-falling ice. "It might take a while but I can grab some earth from the bottom of the floor!"

"Do it!" she gasped, watching as the mouse clambered out of her pocket and dived down, out of sight. Not wasting time to try and track his descent, she began to fly out of range of the fireballs and falling debris, cursing under her breath all the while. She shouldn't have listened to Celsius, she was too proud for her own good. Maxwell could have ripped the monster apart molecule by molecule.

_Fwoosh._

Sheena blinked, turning in her seat to gawk, jaw dropping as a slim black Rheiard whizzed silently by her, heading back in the direction of the monster. The rider was leaning forward in his seat, his chest almost parallel to the body of the Rheiard; a long vermillion scarf trailed behind him like a spill of blood, entrancing Sheena for a moment before she struggled back to a lucid state of mind.

"Hey, wait! What the hell are you doing?" She revved her Rheiard up, chasing after him, trying to grab at his scarf, anything to keep him from his suicidal charge against the dragon.

_Sheena, leave!_ She heard, faintly. The voice was soft, carried by the freezing winds to whisper by her ear. _Can't you just get out of here while it's safe?_

"Get- get back here!"

Wordlessly, the not-quite stranger shrugged off his coat, tossing it back at her. Sheena cursed, flipping out of the way of the fluttering red fabric before it could get caught in her engines or tangle up the controls. But those precious few seconds were enough to let the stranger get farther ahead of her, hopelessly out of her reach. "No, wait!" she called out, her heart dropping into the pit of her stomach."Wait! What are you doing? Come back!"

She could only watch, helpless, as he crashed his Rheiard headfirst into the head of the monster, a golden-red sphere of fire billowing where they collided. The creature shrieked, sirens wailing and lights flashing as the bombs attached to the Rheiard began to go off in rapid succession, tearing away huge chunks of its metal plating.

Then she saw it- a slender black shadow falling, arms outspread, long dark hair and vermillion scarf sprawling out behind him. Sheena's heart skipped a beat and she tore after him as fast as her Rheiard would allow, dipping into a steady nose dive with both her arms outstretched to catch him. He sent her a panicked glance over his shoulder, pale face clearly visible in the moonlight, eyes wide behind thin rimless red sunglasses.

_Go! Away! _She heard him say.

Against all thoughts of rhyme or reason, the stranger pressed his arms flat against his sides and veered off, heading back up in the direction of the monster. Sheena broke out of her nose dive, not believing her eyes as what she had believed to be the ends of his ragged clothing flapping in the wind… unfurled. They flapped down, _fwoosh_, and up, _fwoosh_, rocketing him through the sky faster than any Rheiard.

_Stay! Just… stay put! I can handle this!_

"No way!" Sheena hissed. Not about to be outdone, she flew after him, skillfully dodging past the chunks of burning metal and ice that were still falling down from the sky. Jabbing at a few buttons on the controls, she waited until she was zipping past the head of the monster to leap off, for a moment completely weightless before she snatched onto the horn of the dragon and climbed on. Pulling out the wing pack, she zapped at the Rheiard and called it back to her, shrinking it and putting it into her pocket before looking around for the winged stranger. She found him at the point where he had flown his Rheiard into the dragon, pulling a dagger out of his belt and folding his wings while lowering himself into the gaping hole. Sheena swallowed her fear and jumped in after him, landing on all fours in a dimly lit compartment strewn with cables and controls.

She turned to face the stranger. He hung back, a dagger held tightly in one hand and the other resting on a nearby keyboard. The crimson scarf he wore was wrapped completely around his lower face, covering his mouth and the bridge of his nose "Do you know how to break this thing?" she asked him, clutching onto some low-hanging cables as the monster made a sudden movement, shaking her footing.

He nodded.

"Then tell me how I can help." After a moment of hesitation he tossed her the dagger, pointing at another grouping of cables. Again she heard his voice, whisper thin, tickling her ears. _…Thin yellow ones…_

Sheena nodded, grabbing at the cables. "These?" Again, he nodded. Sheena got to work hacking through the florescent plastic coating as he turned his attention to the screen before him, violet eyes scanning over waves of incomprehensible computer jargon, his long, slender fingers fluttering over the keys _clickity_ _clackety_ _clack_.

Suddenly, there was a long, metallic groan. Sheena froze, looking around her as her pulse quickened. "That didn't sound good…" she said. She almost jumped when the stranger grabbed at her arm, tugging at her and pointing urgently at the hole in the ceiling. "We're done here?"

_I disabled the wings and other motor functions, we have to leave!_ He jabbed a finger at the hole, tightening the bright red scarf around his lower face. _Go, go! Do you understand me? We have to leave! Now_! He held out his arms, motioning for her to hold onto him as he began to unfurl his wings, but she pushed him away and climbed out on her own. Holding onto the edge of the hole with one hand, feeling the vertigo as the creature began its slow descent into the ocean. All around her she could see that Gnome had finally managed to tap into the ocean floor, spikes of solid volcanic rock punching through the metal plating like it was paper.

"Hell yes," she breathed, grinning hugely as she reached into her pocket, pulling out the wing pack and calling out her Rheiard. Hopping onto the slim purple machine, she waved once to the winged stranger, motioning for him to follow her. The noise by then was deafening, a bloody cacophony of wails and shrieks and explosions. Taking off and hoping the stranger had seen her, she flew out through the falling maze of rubble. Soon the stranger had caught up to her, flying on her right and sticking to her as they flew away, far away to safety.

Sheena felt a warm, familiar presence on her shoulder and looked up to see Gnome, in mouse form, smugly grinning at her. "How ya like me now, bitch?"

"Not much more than I did before," Sheena admitted, reaching up to run a finger along his soft fur.

"Anything else my mistress requires from the awesome and pimpin' Gnome?" the mouse said, reclining against her ear and feeling the wind against his whiskers.

"Yes," Sheena said, lowering her voice. "I want you to knock that man out."

Gnome snapped to attention, nodding to the winged stranger, who was busy looking for somewhere to land. "Who? Him? Certainly." He raised one paw up and then suddenly let it drop, hurling a stray chunk of rock and smashing it against the winged strangers head. His wings fell limp against his back and he plummeted, but not so fast that Sheena couldn't catch him and sling him across the back of her Rheiard. Using the map on her Rheiard controls, she changed course and headed out, her face grim.

* * *

When he came to, he was tied up to a chair in a dark room. Sheena was standing, leaning against the wall of the room with her arms crossed. Faintly, she heard him groan in pain and willed herself not to care about him. When he began to struggle against his bonds she strode across the room to grab him by his shoulder, her grip tight.

"How did you know how to disable the robot?" she demanded, leaning down so that she was at eye-level with the lanky stranger. He shook his head, slowly, trying to blink away the dried blood on his eyelashes. Sheena gritted her teeth, grabbing at the front of his shirt and pulling him closer to her. "Answer me."

_I… can't…_

"Yes you can! You were wearing Desian armor under your clothing. And…" She let him go and pulled something from the top of the room's table. She threw it at his feet, stalking around him, her ragged and torn clothing fluttering behind her like wings. "…This, plus your uncanny knowledge of machinery most people never see in their lives, lead me to believe that it was not an accident or fate you came to save me." She kicked at the plate of metal she had torn from the monster's thigh, the one with the familiar logo branded onto it.

"In the Remote Island Ranch I saw this symbol over every piece of machinery. You used to work for Rodyle. Only he would want to make something dangerous like that robot." She stopped her manic pacing and stood in front of him again, one hand brandishing her deck of cards. "And Rodyle hurt someone very close to me. I'm not about to spare you just because you helped."

He coughed a few times, turning his head away. _It was an accident… Sheena…_

Sheena didn't let down. "Answer the question! If you don't..." She grabbed at his dark violet hair, forcing his head down so she could see over his shoulders to the wings folded neatly on his back. "…I'll cut them off."

He yanked his head out of her grip, sending his glasses flying. _No! Please! Sheena! If you could just understand me I could tell you what happened!_

"I understand you just fine," she snapped, flipping her cards back out of sight. "Now tell me who sent you, and how you know my name."

The stranger inhaled sharply, sitting back in his seat to stare at her with wide eyes. _You… you understand me?_ He said from behind his thick scarf.

"Well yeah," she said, starting to feel her resolve slip away in her confusion. "You're speaking the common language."

_But that's not possible!_ He said, beginning to struggle again. She put a hand to his shoulder and pushed him against his chair, pressing her cards against his throat.

"Don't try to escape," she said. "Explain yourself."

_Sheena_, he said. She waited, patiently, for him to finish. Eventually, he did. _I'm the one who saved you in Flanoir._

Sheena stood back, letting him go. "You? You're 'A Shadow'? You're the one who left all those notes!"

_Yes, that's what they call me. Please, untie me and I can explain._

"You…" Sheena shook her head, trying to make sense of this. "You still haven't answered my other questions! How do you know how to operate Rodyle's creation? How could you know about that?"

A Shadow shook his head. _I'm sorry. I can't tell you that._

"Are you forgetting that I'm a shinobi?" she asked. "You know that torture methods are one of the things we learn when we're still children." She shoved him again. "So talk. How do you know Rodyle?"

His bowed his head, letting his long purple hair curtain his face. _I can't. He's my… he was my…_

Suddenly, the gears in Sheena's mind began to work at full speed as she stood back and looked him up and down, from his violet hair to his mottled black wings to his familiar stark white gloves. Bending down, she picked up the stranger's thin, rimless glasses and held them up before his face. "...These glasses," she asked. "Did they belong to your father?"

Slowly, miserably, he nodded.

"And your wings…"

_He put them on me._

Sheena put them in his lap, frowning as she took a strand of the stranger's violet hair and let it run over her fingers. "That explains a lot," she said, weakly.

_Tok tok tok tok tok!_

"Sheena? Come out here right now! I know you're in there!" Sheena glanced up in alarm, quickly turning to run to the window again when the door burst open and Pandora strode in, grabbing at Sheena's arm and holding her tightly. She looked from the stranger, bruised and bloody and tied to a chair, and then looked back to Sheena's guilty face.

"What in the name of Martel…"

* * *

Next Chapter: "Talented" or "If I had a Gald piece for every time she said that!" And I'm pretty sure the poll is gonna be introduced next chapter, too.

And Rodyle's son is a lot prettier than he ever was. And he's not a Gary Stu! Trust me, he has his share of weaknesses...


	7. Twist

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, hunnies! Now I've finally introduced the last of my OC's. You won't find any more OC's that further the plot significantly after this guy. By the way, I've decided that all spells are going to be in **bold** from now on. And Kratos is kinda boring to write- I like Genis so much better. And it's not that Yuan sucks at swordsmanship, it's just Kratos is just insanely good and Genis is observant.

Enjoy.

* * *

ANTIGONE. Whose was the deed/Death and the spirits of the dead can tell/A friend in words is not a friend for me.

* * *

When Raine landed in Asgard two days later, she took a moment to stand at the gates, letting the never ending wind rush by her face, twirling and dancing with her shoulder length hair. She closed her eyes, bowing her head and taking a deep breath of the ancient city before Mesha broke into her thoughts.

"Wow, this place is beautiful."

Raine smiled at that and opened her eyes again, looking down at Mesha. "Better than Meltokio?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Mesha said, nodding. "Loads better."

"So, ladies," Harley broke in, standing between them with an arm on each of their shoulders, "Where to first? Me, I'm gonna head over to Linar's place to see if he's done tinkering with my secret weapon yet."

"Your what?" Mesha looked up, blinking at him.

"If I told you it wouldn't be secret anymore. Shhh…" He lifted his hand from Raine's shoulder to press a finger against his mouth, glancing around him to watch for spies. Tweaking Mesha's ear one last time, he wandered down the dirt roads to the housing area. Mesha angrily rubbed at her ear, glaring after him.

"I hate it when he treats me like I'm his kid sister or something," she sighed.

"Don't tell me that," Raine said, "Tell him. But for now we have to restock our inventory. After those Night Raids surprised us yesterday, we're going to need a few more orange gels."

"Yeah…" Mesha agreed, still looking down. After a moment she shook her head and smiled up at Raine, changing the subject. "Why don't we split up and I get the foodstuffs and you get all the items we need?"

Raine nodded. Giving Mesha some of her Gald before they headed off towards the different shops, she smiled down at her newest student. But even so, the Professor felt something akin to relief when she lost Mesha in the crowd, feeling as though he could let her guard down for a little while. She smiled softly, hearing the familiar jingle of bells as she pushed open the shop door.

_This place could almost be home,_ she thought, paying for her items and heading down to the caves. She must have been to these places hundreds of times before, but every time she came to Asgard she could never resist the temptation. This time was no different- she decided to sidetrack and try to tell herself that the caves wouldn't have changed since the last time she visited.

Walking into the weapons shop, she perused over their selection of spears and staves and… shovels?

Growing curious, Raine picked it up by its six-foot-long wooden handle, holding it with both her hands and shifting into a fighting stance. No, not a shovel. The broad flat steel blade at the end did give it a spade-like appearance, though. On the other end of the staff, instead of a blunt end coated in steel, a thin crescent moon blade was attached. She looked from this new, eccentric weapon to her old, shoddy staff with its unicorn horn lashed on by fraying ropes and had to work to fight off a sudden bout of greed. But then Raine took one look at the price and promptly put the staff back where she had found it, walking out of the store and towards the caves again. To her joy, a recent earthquake had opened up the entrances to some new caves that were currently being excavated. Practically quivering with scholarly pursuit, she ignored signs that warned civilians to stay out and started up a small spell to light her way.

Raine gasped as her light spilled onto a wall covered in paintings, her eyes lighting up as she rushed to the wall and put a hand on it. "Balacruf," she whispered to herself, feeling as though she might burst into an orange cloud of ruin-overloaded Raine Dust. She had landed in a virtual oasis of Balacruf information while in the Desert of Ignorance!

Though she tried her best to be silent, when her glowing eyes hungrily scanned over hieroglyphs depicting the whereabouts of the tomb of the third emperor of the Xin bloodline, she couldn't help but let a soft, yet diabolical, laugh escape from her lips.

"Bwah hah hah hah…."

She was so engrossed with the paintings- crouching down on the floor with her face pressed up against the wall to better examine them- she didn't notice when soft footsteps began to echo in the normally quiet cavern passages.

"Excuse me," a deep, male voice said from behind her, sighing loudly.

"…but if I could do an analysis on some paint chippings I could see when…" Raine mumbled out loud before breaking off and continuing her thought process silently, reaching into her bag for a small chisel and hammer.

"_Excuse_ me," the voice said, louder this time. "This area is off-limits. It's structurally unsound and if you go around meddling with-"

"Shut up," Raine said, turning around with narrowed eyes. "Can't you see I'm busy? And don't give me your insipid lies- there's nothing wrong with this cave and you are obviously hiding something. All I want to do is look at these paintings but if you continue to annoy me I might just start to try and uncover what you're really up to here and then reveal the knowledge to the public."

She paused for breath.

"Besides… you can't take me from here if you tried."

Raine turned around again, smoothing her silver hair back from her face. The man stood with his arms crossed, glaring at her in the semidarkness. His lower face was covered by a bright red bandanna, giving him the appearance of an old-school bandit. "Now, where was I…?" she began to hum cheerfully to herself, seemingly oblivious as the stranger walked back a few feet to grab at a pickaxe lying in a broken wheelbarrow.

Testing it, he swung it in the air a few times before returning to Raine, smiling thinly. Hefting the tool up high, he brought it down on the square of rock next to where Raine was kneeling. Sparks flew, causing Raine's hands to twitch to avoid them. Leaning on the pole to the pickaxe, the man bent down to talk into her ear. She seemed frozen in place, her hands hovering uncertainly over her dropped tools.

"I think you should leave," he said.

Slowly, she turned her head away from him, her bangs hiding her faintly glowing eyes from view. "Was that a threat just now, or did I hear the Asgard winds blowing through the tunnels?"

"It was a suggestion," he said, lifting the pickaxe up again. "This cave is structurally unsound. If some rocks fall and bash your head in, I can't be held responsible."

Raine sighed, loudly. "So that's the way this is going to be." Slowly, she put her staff down and then rolled it far away, out of reach. In the dim light the staff still provided she could see his bandana crinkle around his mouth as he smiled, lowering the pickaxe and stepping away.

She'd show him there was nothing to smile about.

"Hyah!" Raine threw her hand out, a dozen needles flying from their concealed place inside her sleeves to fly at the man.

He cursed, hopping back and swiping them from the air with one sweep of his pickaxe. Raine took the opportunity to leap to her feet, following her trail of needles and leaping high over the pickaxe's range, landing down with both her feet planted squarely in the man's face. She waited until she felt the satisfying crunch of cartilage under her boots before pushing off and somersaulting over his head, landing not-quite gracefully on all fours before scrambling up to her feet and running away.

Raine heard the man's curses floating behind her and grinned, sprinting for the exit.

"Get back here! **Wind Whip!**"

Raine bit her lip as a sudden, cold cord wrapped around her ankle, sending her sprawling onto the cavern floor, cracking her head against a jutting rock. Shaking, she got up on her knees, placing a glowing hand over her freely bleeding forehead but to no avail.

"**Heal**…" she said, feeling the warm glow, but her body refused to cooperate. The skin remained broken and the blood flowed, not clotting and plugging up like it was supposed to. Startled, she made a small, angry noise as she realized the icy chain was still tied to her ankle and had begun to reel her back, catching her off balance and sending her to the floor again with one sudden jerk. The rope began to tug on her ankle and Raine found herself being dragged back into the caverns by her foot, her nails scrabbling for purchase on the unforgiving stone floor. "**Photon**!" she said, turning and slicing her hand through the whip.

The shining, mana-filled wind flickered once and died before surging forward again, splitting into five different cords to wrap around her arms, legs, and throat. Lifting her up into the air, kicking and punching, the whips brought her back to the man. He had her staff held loosely in his right hand while controlling the whip with his left, easily managing all five ends of the magic spell. The shining light of the unicorn horn illuminated his face- the beginnings of laugh-lines around his eyes and streaks of stark white running through hair that was once solid black.

"Raine?" he asked, pulling off his bandana to grin at her, wiping the blood from his face. "You're Raine Sage, the heroine of the two worlds?" With a small laugh, he tossed the staff into the air, catching it before it fell and peering at the Unicorn Horn. "You look like a common little pickpocket to me."

"Yes," Raine said, stopping her struggled to glare at him. "I am Raine Sage. And I don't need the Unicorn Horn to cast spells, you fool. **Photon**!" A sphere of pure light energy shot forward, slamming into the man's abdomen and knocking him back against the cave walls. His concentration broken, the spell dissipated and Raine fell, landing on her feet and snatching her staff out of the air before it clattered to the floor.

A low groan came from the floor. Raine turned her eyes, coolly uncaring, towards the man bleeding at her feet, and nudged him with the end of her staff. "Who are you?" she asked him, letting the tip of her staff begin to glow with the beginnings of another Photon attack.

The man turned his head away, a thin trickle of blood making its way down the side of his face. He pulled off his bandana, pinching his nose and wiping at the blood. "You know who I am," he said. "You just forgot me."

"I think I would know if I had met you before," Raine said, dryly.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?"

Then, quicker than she could imagine, he reached out and grabbed at her staff, yanking hard enough to send her toppling over on top of him. Quickly grabbing both of her dainty wrists with one hand and wrapping his legs around her waist to keep her from escaping, he knocked the staff back out of her hand and pressed his free fingers against her forehead.

"**Seal Break,"** he said, "**Level two. Restore all memory regarding person(s) Alexander Sage."**

Raine felt it- heard it at first. It was a brief click, like a latch being undone before the dam breaks and sends the knowledge flooding through her brain, swamping her systems. She would have collapsed, twitching, onto the floor if Alex hadn't been there to hold her steady as she slowly began to process information at a normal rate and her senses returning to normal. Slowly, she felt her eyes begin to adjust and refocus on the long, dark face in front of her. She blinked a few times, coughing once or twice as she pushed herself up to look him in the eyes.

"…Alex?" she said, gingerly placing a hand against his cheek before lifting it back and slapping him with all her might.

"Gack!" he winced, craning his head away as she glared at him.

"That's for breaking my vase when we were camping in Hima!" she hissed, slapping him again.

"Raine, I-"

She slapped him once more. "Don't you even dare! Don't you dare, Alex! And this-" the sound of the smack resounded through the caves, "Is for trying to kill me! Again!"

"Are you-" he started, before she grabbed a handful of his hair and knocked his head back against the cave wall.

"And that's for bringing my memory back when I didn't want it returned!"

He let his head rest against the cool stone for a few moments before he dared to speak again. "…Are you done?"

Raine lifted her hand a few fractions of an inch before letting it drop to her side with a long-suffering sigh. "…Yes. I suppose you want me to heal you now?" she took him in, with his broken nose, bleeding forehead and cheeks red from the abuse she had just put him through.

"Please," he said.

She gritted her teeth, putting her palm to his forehead. "**First Aid**," she said, watching the warm healing light surround his head like the pictures of the saints.

"Just a first aid spell?" he said. "That's all? You know you got me pretty good with that light spell ear- ow!"

She had smacked him again. "You want a stronger healing spell? Fine! **Heal**!"

This time, the healing spell didn't slowly search for the damage and then fix it with warm light. There was a wooshing sound like wind blowing past his ears as his body was roughly and carelessly restored to normal. "Ugh, ow…" he shook the dizziness from his vision. "You didn't have to be mean, Raine."

"You tried to kill me!" she said, getting off of his lap and brushing the dirt off of her orange traveling coat with angry rough strokes. "Again!" Sighing loudly, she looked away. "Whatever. I-" she broke off as a bright light suddenly illuminated the cave. She quickly shot one hand up to cover her face and stepped back as an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Hey! This place is off-limits to civilians!" the miner said, stepping forward. Alex shot up to his feet, throwing out one hand and uttering the command words for his spell.

"**Wind Whip**!"

The miner cried out as the end of the whip snapped against his hands and he dropped the flashlight. Raine kicked it to the side before ramming the butt of her staff into the man's stomach and then sweeping his feet out from under him. She glanced back at an impressed Alex, nodding her head towards the exit. He nimbly hopped over the stunned man and they raced towards the cave entrance, not stopping until they were safely hidden in the hilly residential area of Asgard.

"What was that?" he asked, peering over the side of a house in case anyone had followed them. "Did the heroic Raine Sage just attack an innocent man?"

"Hush," she sat down on the ground to get her wind back, one hand running up and down the length of her beloved Unicorn Horn to check for damage. "The people of Asgard know that I have a history of running off with important artifacts, so it wouldn't look good if I were to be caught in a place strictly off-limits."

"Right," he said, still searching for any signs of pursuit before turning to where Raine was. "But while we're here, Rainebow, why don't I ask- Raine?" He blinked as he realized the spot where she had been sitting was empty. "Raine?" He stepped forward, looking around, but all signs of the Professor had vanished.

* * *

"This is quite a surprise, Kratos," Yuan said, casually leaning against his desk as the papers still fluttered about the room. Genis sweat dropped.

"So I gathered…" He shifted his bag, presumably where he was storing his armor by the clanking sounds coming from within and the fact that he was in more casual clothing. "The teleporter in Derris-Kharlan wouldn't let me go through the Flanoir Base exit. Why?"

Yuan stood still for a moment, still feeling flustered by the sudden appearance of the seraphim. "Oh… well," he gathered his wits together and managed to answer him. "That would be because I had it leveled. I never use it, and I never intend to use it again." He bent down, snatching up reports and files from the floor. "This one in Triet suits me just fine, you know that. Why go all the way to Flanoir?"

Kratos shrugged.

"Forget that," Genis butted in, carelessly catching a sheaf of paper floating his way, "Why are you even here in Sylvarant?" He paused, knocking a hand against his head. "I mean… here?"

"I believe the most common term for the two reunited worlds is 'Symphonia,' Genis," Kratos corrected him, smiling. "Though that's a bit in conflict with what the king has to say. Officially, we are Aselia."

"You're avoiding the question. Do you have news?" Yuan slapped the huge pile of papers back onto his desk, promising himself that he would organize them properly later. "News of Kuchinawa, or-" his eyes widened suddenly and he took a few steps forward. "Are my pet projects going out of control on Derris-Kharlan? Because I implanted a few chips into their necks and all I have to do is press a button here to-"

Kratos grabbed him by the shoulder, giving him a small shake to calm him down. "Yuan, your projects are fine." Letting him go, he sighed and smoothed back his spiky auburn hair. "There's nothing wrong, you two. There's no danger, so stop overreacting."

"But…" Genis abandoned his quest to pick up any stray papers Yuan had missed. "Why are you here, then?"

Kratos averted his eyes. "I'm here to see my son."

Yuan looked at him in confusion before he grinned wickedly. "You never change," he accused the seraphim. "I knew you'd regret going to Derris-Kharlan. Eventually, Kratos," he took this opportunity to roll up another sheaf of paper and closed his eyes, smacking Kratos on the back of the head, "You're going to have to fess up and admit that I can always call your actions."

Yuan made a very unflattering noise as he found the tip of Kratos's sword tickling his right eyeball. Coughing, he tried to take a step back but found himself pressed up against his desk. "Fine," he sighed, turning his head away. "Fine. You win."

Kratos allowed himself a small smile, crossing his arms once his sword was safely at his side again. "Sorry about your cape," he said.

"My cape?" Yuan glanced down to see a previously nonexistent gash in the black fabric. "What the- when did that happen?"

"Whoa," Genis said, his eyes trained on Kratos's blade. "That was cool."

Kratos looked over his shoulder at the blue-haired half-elf, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "You saw?"

"I've been learning how to use a sword, myself," Genis said, proudly.

"Yes, well, it's certainly a tricky maneuver."

Yuan gritted his teeth, pressing his fingers up against his temples. "Am I the only one here who didn't see when he did that?"

"My friend Pandora had been giving me lessons every month. It's a little slow, but it gives me time to really get used to it," Genis said and Kratos turned to face him, thus effectively blocking Yuan out of the conversation.

"I never thought I'd see the day you gave physical combat a try," Kratos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps we could spar one of these days? I'd like to see how you compare to Lloyd."

"He's still got a mage's mentality," Yuan spoke up, perched on the edge of his desk as he rummaged around for something.

"Any particular style?" Kratos kept on. "Do you enjoy fencing?"

"Yeah, actually. Don-Guard, she uses it a lot cause she's kinda small but really fast. But really? Swords don't really cut it for me. Er, pun unintended."

Kratos put his bag onto the floor. "Have you considered long-ranged weapons? Spears, maybe? Yuan," he turned, "Didn't your Renegades use spears? Do you have- what in the world are you doing?"

Yuan sat on the edge of his desk, his teeth nipping through a stand of black thread as he slipped it through the eye of a needle. "Damage control," he muttered, sweeping off his cape and placing it on his lap.

"Yuan…" Kratos glanced away. "Stop that. It's unsettling to see you acting..." he managed to peek back at Yuan, who was coolly matching his gaze but not slowing down his feverish pace of sewing.

"Don't give me that look. You know how to sew, too. Bachelordom _demands_ you learn."

"You're better at that than my sister," Genis noted, his eyes wide with surprise. "Man, Yuan, I never figured that deep down you knew how to do such a girly thing."

"Coming from the book worm that bakes cookies in his spare time!" Yuan snapped, his hand furiously stitching up the gash in his cape even though his attention was focused on Genis. "Don't you have somewhere to be, shrimp?"

"OK, fine!" Genis threw his arms up into the air and slid his goggles down over his eyes. "I'm going to Meltokio. I'll see you in a week or two." Walking out of the room, he called out over his shoulder. "And Yuan? I'm taller than you!"

Bzzp! The electric doors slid shut behind him and Yuan sighed, biting off his thread and holding up his newly mended cape to inspect his handiwork. No sign of the gash was apparent- even Kratos had a hard time noticing where the tear had been, and when he did find it, it was only because he remembered where he had sliced it open. Yuan noticed this and smirked, again wrapping his cape around his thin shoulders and standing up, brushing imaginary dust from his shirt. The auburn-haired seraphim suddenly found one of the paintings hanging on the office wall fascinating- he turned his attention from his former companion and began to study the painting with one hand against his chin.

"So," Yuan said, insinuating himself up to a place beside Kratos, examining the painting as well. "Why did you _really_ come back?"

Kratos managed to tear his eyes from the painting to look guiltily into Yuan's own aqua orbs. "I came to see my son," he said.

"Bullshit," Yuan said cheerfully. "One of these days I'll force you to admit I can always call it. Why did you really come?" he repeated, rising up one hand to grimace at the writing ink stains on his fingertips.

Kratos placed a palm against his face. "I came to see… Colette."

Yuan blinked. "Lloyd's wife?" he asked. "Why?"

"When you send the letters my son writes to me- through the teleporters?" Kratos shifted uncomfortably, reaching into his shirt pocket to pull out a folded paper. He held it out to Yuan, who took it after a moment of deliberation. "This was among the letters."

Yuan's eyes scanned over the paper, pausing briefly at one sentence in particular before slowly reading the rest. He stared blankly at the paper for a few moments before looking up at Kratos. "Are you certain? Is _she_ certain?" he quickly corrected himself.

"That's what I came to find out."

Yuan re-read the letter. "Maybe she's just confused as to what exactly... is required for this to happen." He carefully folded the paper up into a neat little square. "There's always the possibility that she's wrong and Lloyd is -"

* * *

"Colette! Colette, there you are!"

The blond ex-Chosen of Sylvarant started like a frightened deer, scrambling to hold up her towel as Lloyd came barging into the small clearing where she had been taking a bath. "_Lloyd_," she accused, blushing furiously and quickly crouching down so that the lake water would cover most of her.

The red-clad swordsman, uncaring, plowed his way through the water to reach her and hold her tightly. She wriggled in his grasp, giving a small laugh. "Lloyd, you scared me. What's wrong?" she pulled back a bit, still holding her towel to her chest.

"Well I…" Lloyd pulled a sad face. "I thought you were… and the campsite was empty… and I didn't see you so… so I got worried!"

Colette shook her head, blushing again as she pulled away completely, holding her towel to hide what meager woman parts she had. "Heh… sor- I mean, I didn't mean to worry you. I just couldn't wait to get to Meltokio to take a bath. I just feel so" –she stuck out her tongue- "Icky after traveling all day!"

"Yeah, I know…" Lloyd gave her a tender, shy smile and cupped the back of her neck, running a gloved thumb along her cheek. "I just worry about you. You're fragile right now."

Colette averted her eyes, holding a hand over the faint curve on her belly. "I'm only four months along, Lloyd," she muttered half-heartedly.

He suddenly lost his smile and dropped his arm, turning away to walk back to the campsite. "Anyway," he said, his voice strange and distant, "You should at least take Zelly with you. Who knows what kinda creeps are out there."

"Lloyd, I-" she started, trying to follow him but he cut her off.

"It's OK. I'll make dinner. You get dressed."

She stood there in the shallow water, her towel hanging loosely over her arm as she watched him disappear into the foliage. "…OK," she said, softly.

* * *

"-the father," Yuan finished, handing the square of paper back to Kratos. "Last I heard they were in a House of Salvation on their way to Meltokio, so the big city's your best bet if you want to find them."

"Thank you, Yuan."

"Any time."

* * *

A/N: I'm just gonna stop _trying! _I never manage to tell you what the next chapter's title is going to be. FORGIVE ME. And as for the poll- you guessed it! You get to decide whether the baby is going to be a boy or a girl! Personally I'm rooting for a boy, but that's just me. Baby names are also welcome, but I am the one who will ultimately decide his/her name.

Next Chapter: In Which Sheena Explains WhaTHIGO Or At Least Attempts To Do So, But Be Assured That This Is Not The Title Of The Next Chapter But Is Merely Informing You Of What Shall Thus Transpire. Thank You.


	8. WhaTHIGO

(A/N: I've been building up to this revelation since chapter eight of RUNAWAY. So don't review saying I'm grasping at straws- Because I've _foreshadowed_ the straws! And sorry, but for some reason my story editor page won't let me use rulers to seperate the A/N from the story body, I hope you guys dont get confused.

Zelos- "Say Goodbye" by RBF

Matias- "Three Simple Words" by Finch

Fun Fact: Mesha's last name is my name if you spelled it backwards.

VOTES:

Boy: 4

Girl: 3)

"What in the name of Martel…"

The violet-haired stranger winced as their eyes met and glanced away from Pandora, closing his eyes. With one swift motion, Pandora brought out her sword, tapping the flat of the blade against her boot as she looked from Sheena to him and back to Sheena again.

"What is going on here?" she demanded, her lips set in a thin, upset line.

Sheena shook her head slowly. "I don't even know where to start."

Pandora pointed her sword at the boy, "Why don't you start by telling me who he is and why he's tied up?"

_Matias_.

"His name is Matias," Sheena said, and Matias nodded. "And I think he's Rodyle's son." After a moment, he nodded again. Sheena felt the anger rise in her again as she looked at his familiar beady purple eyes and those ridiculous white gloves, the nose that was at once familiar and alien. His nose, for instance. Not Rodyle's nose, no. The face of that monster was still etched into her brain and she put the mental image up against his spawn, seeing where the similarities ended. Who was his mother? She found herself asking. What woman or half-elf would willingly let her child be experimented on like this?

"He sent some sort of creature out after me," Sheena continued, reaching out to yank his scarlet scarf from around his neck, wanting answers. Pandora took a step to stand in the way, glaring down at the older, but smaller, girl. Sheena stood on the tips of her toes until they were nose to nose, glaring right back at her and not intimidated in the least.

"Sheena," Pandora put out a restraining hand on Sheena's shoulder and taking a step back to a safer distance. "You might be my friend, but I'll always be Pandora Epiphany before I'm anyone else; Right now she sees something that might be against the law. I'll talk to the man myself."

Sheena could see Matias rolling his eyes from over Pandora's shoulder. She smiled as she pointed out, "You never win in our spars."

The faintest color rose in Pandora's cheeks. "It doesn't matter. I have a duty to my father and to people like this man-" she waved to Matias- "Who can't defend themselves."

Matias opened his eyes, looking up. _I am not a man, _he sent to Sheena.

"I think he's a half-elf," Sheena said. He nodded again, a bit reluctantly. At this point, she was just too upset to really wonder why she was the only one who could hear him.

Pandora turned to look at him, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Yeah… yeah he is. I can feel it all around him." She moved towards him, kneeling next to his chair and beginning to set him free from his bonds.

"Pandora!" Sheena said, taking an angry step forward. "Why are you-?"

"If he does anything we'll kill him together," Pandora said relentlessly, working her fingers over the intricate shinobi knots. She looked up into the soft violet eyes, watching for a reaction. "He isn't stupid. You'll play good, won't you?"

He nodded and stood up, the ropes dropping around his ankles. Quickly folding his wings tightly against his back, he backed away from the two women until he bumped into the wall. Glancing from one to the other and to the open door way, he eventually gave a muffled sigh and slid down against the wall, hunched over on the floor like a marble gargoyle sprung to life.

Pandora slid her sword back into its sheath, letting her eyes trail up and down his scrawny, lithe figure; limp greasy hair and ruffled feathers and patches of leathery dragon scales, dried blood still caked to his head from when Gnome had knocked him out.

"He doesn't look like much," was her final verdict, one hand resting casually on the pommel of her sword.

_I'm more than you or your bastard father know,_ came a sudden, angry thought. Sheena was startled for a moment before realizing the message was meant for Pandora, not her. Now that she really thought about it, if she concentrated hard enough she could hear the overlying thoughts and emotions running through his head. Anger, mainly, most of it for Pandora and an image of an old blond man she found lying in his subconscious, though he had a healthy serving of fear as well. Fear, anger, desperation, confusion and loneliness. Is this what a trapped bird feels like when it flies through the open window?

_Bird…_ Matias thought, confused. He glanced away from Pandora, looking at the closed window of the inn room. _A bird_?

_Can he read my thoughts too?_

Matias quickly turned his gaze to Sheena, his violet eyes widening in a sudden epiphany as the knowledge came to them at once, of the link between the minds. There was a sudden clarity to her vision, crystal clear in the semi-darkness of the room. Behind her she could hear her wings rustling, ugly wings with mottled black feathers and big hooks at the end, like the thumbs of a bat.

She was forcefully shoved out like a rowdy drunk in a bar and could almost hear the floodgates swinging shut with a desperate, violent clang as she was completely shut off from his mind. Feeling as though someone had plugged up her ears and blinded her all at once, Sheena took a few steps back from Matias, her head aching from her sudden removal from his psyche. "That hurt!" she said, pointing an accusing finger at him when she had regained her voice. "Whatever the hell you did, don't ever do it again!"

Ignoring curious glances from Pandora, Matias reached into his pocket to pull a stubby pencil and a notepad out. He scribbled down something and crumpled the paper up, tossing it over to Sheena who unfolded it and read the note.

_You were trespassing in my mind,_ it read. _Don't you ever do it again_.

Sheena clenched the wad of paper in her hand, fuming. "I don't even know what's going on!" she said.

Matias waved his left hand once, pointing at it with his right. Embedded in the pale flesh of his hand was a blood red Ex-sphere.

"Your Ex-sphere?" Sheena said, wishing for the link to return. "Damn, can't we just talk the way we were doing before?"

Matias shook his head, pointing now at her.

"_My_ Ex-sphere!" He nodded vigorously and she put a hand to her Ex-sphere, pulsing softly with its own light. "But it's never done this bef- what?" she asked, noticing him shaking his head again. He pointed, once more, to her, and then back to his Ex-sphere.

Even without the link, she saw the look of frustration in his soft violet eyes as he pulled at his hair, shaking his head. Eyes narrowed, he began to cross the room with one hand outstretched towards Sheena but Pandora stopped him with the flat of her blade pressed against his thin chest.

"Don't go near her," she ordered. Matias let her know just what he thought of her new rule by angrily making a fist and bringing it up before her, shaking it threateningly. She smiled at that, twisting the blade a little to let the edge cut through some of his baggy shirt. He quickly stepped away, one hand pressed against his chest as he glared at her.

Finally relenting and looking away from her dark black gaze, he scribbled another note and tossed it to the Shinobi. _Not that one. The other one. The one on your wrist._ He pointed again.

Sheena looked down to where he was pointing, at her grandmother's charm that had once been a necklace before Kloitz Sage broke the seal on it. She held the charm in her hands, running a thumb along the smooth glass-like surface of the hemisphere dangling freely from the chain. Slowly unwrapping it from around her wrist, she held it up above her with wonder in her eyes.

"This…?" she said, looking down again at Matias. "But… it's broken."

Matias could only shrug helplessly. For a brief moment the link was opened and a sudden mental image flashed by her eyes of a young woman wrapped in scarves and jewels. She sat in the dark, cross-legged and silent with a crystal ball on her lap, her dark eyes showing out the doorway to eternity. _Claire,_ Matias whispered. _You know her_.

"I do know her!" Sheena said as Matias gently closed the link again. She turned to Pandora, excitement rising in her voice. "I know her! She's the Fortune-Teller here in Triet!" Sheena clenched the pendant tightly in her hand. She couldn't ever remember not wearing it for so long. "She can tell me what's going on," Sheena continued, remembering the times she had seen the visions of blood pooling. "She can tell me why I'm seeing these _things_."

Sheena smiled, wondering for moment why her hand was shaking. That was her last coherent thought before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground in a dead faint.

"Sheena!"

Pandora forgot herself, sheathing her sword and running to catch her before she fell. Matias reached her first, somehow, shoving past the knight's daughter and unfurling his wings, his feet not even touching the ground as he swooped in and wrapped his arms around the ninja. Gently, he rested her down on the bed and moved to take the charm from her hand.

He was knocked to the side by Pandora, her eyes smoldering as she stood in between the man and Sheena in her vulnerable state, one hand on her sword hilt.

Matias took a few steps back, glaring at her. He raised one fist before bringing it down with a sudden snap, a dark object flying from his hand as he turned and strode through the open doorway, his wings pressed tightly against his back. Pandora watched him leave, not trying to stop him. Not even when she saw that it wasn't a knife he had thrown, but a feather, beautifully and tenderly wrought out of sharp steel.

Sheena groaned, bringing Pandora back to reality; she turned and kneeled next to the bed, suppressing fearful emotions. Something was terribly wrong, though- even the light touch of skin against skin caused purple bruises to blossom on the ninja's skin. A closer examination showed that Sheena's back was already covered in the violet blotches from lying against the bed frame. Pandora cursed before running out of the room into the streets of Triet. She went over to the bazaar, looking for the item shop. Ignoring the long line, she cut in front and shoved the blue-haired man currently bargaining with the shop keeper.

"I need apple gels, now," she ordered, spilling out the contents of her gald bag onto the counter, wondering if everyone could hear the way her heart was pounding out of control. If she could use the apple gels to buy her time while she looked for a proper healer… The man she had just shoved turned on her angrily.

"Hey, lady! I waited in line, so can you. Who do you think you are?"

_I'm Pandora Epiphany_, she thought. That name would get her anywhere in Meltokio, but she wasn't so certain it would have the same effect in the Desert Oasis. "Someone is hurt," she said, her hand unconsciously tightening on the hilt of her sword.

The man was silent for a moment before grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to look at him. "Pandora?" he said, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

Genis. There was a moment of silence between the two half-elves, dark blue and black eyes searching each other. Then Pandora turned back to the shopkeeper, snapping, "Where are my apple gels?"

"Right here miss-" the shopkeeper started, handing her a bag of apple gels but she cut him off and turned around to bolt off in the direction of the inn, not bothering to give Genis a second glance. He stood blinking for a moment before running after her, stumbling up the stairs of the inn to have the room door slammed in his face.

"Pandora!" he said, banging his fist against the wood with one hand pressed to his throbbing forehead. "What's going on? Who's hurt?"

Pandora opened the door again, quickly grabbing at his wrist and dragging him into the room before slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. "I don't want anyone to see her this way…" she said, her fingers drumming anxiously against the pommel of her sword as she glanced over to the bed.

Sheena lay there. She stared out at the ceiling but saw nothing, her dark eyes glazed and unresponsive. Genis sucked in a huge breath at the sight of the normally spunky girl practically comatose before him. "What happened?" he asked.

"If I knew that, I would tell you. Genis, your sister is a healer. Didn't she ever teach you her craft?"

"No, but…" He stepped forward as Pandora pulled an apple gel out of her bag to administer it to the ninja. "Come on, Pip. Something must have happened to trigger this."

"Something…" Pandora spread the gel over the bruises on Sheena's back and rubbing it in to make sure the gel would go down past the skin to fix any internal injuries. She remembered Matias's severe, hawk-like face in the moment before Sheena fainted, expectant. waiting. He knew something was going to happen because….

"Her bracelet?" Pandora looked up as Genis spoke. He took the charm and slid it from one hand to the other, for a brief moment forgetting Sheena was even there. An odd expression dawned on his face as he looked from the charm to Sheena and back again before securely wrapping it back around her wrist.

"Do you know something I don't?" Pandora demanded, not forgetting Matias's fixation with the charm.

"No," Genis said quickly. After a moment Pandora took out another apple gel to give to Sheena, and he continued. "Except… well… maybe. I overheard Sheena and Raine talking a while back, once. Look." He took Pandora's hand and drew it away from Sheena, his blue eyes full of wonder as he watched the blotchy violet colors melt and fade to an ugly yellow-green.

"So even a broken Ex-sphere is powerful," Pandora mused.

"An- what?" Genis looked back down at the charm. By then the bruises had healed so completely you could have never known they were there. Pandora frowned, crossing her arms as she looked down at a sleeping Sheena. "What's going on?" Genis asked again.

Pandora shook her head; Sheena's eyelids twitched as she dreamed. "I think I know someone who will answer that. Come on." She motioned for him to follow her and walked out into the hallway of the inn.

"Shouldn't we look after Sheena until we're sure she's all right?" Genis asked, glancing back over his shoulder with reluctance but following Pandora anyway.

"She'll be fine," Pandora said, marching down the stairs again. "Come on. We're going to the Fortune-Teller's hut. I'll explain what I can on the way there."


	9. Questions Answered

A/N: Greetings, my friends, at 3,000 words. So here we are, I've procrastinated long enough. I got a headache writing Yuan's scene because I was pulling the same faces I imagine he would be. Which are pretty gruesome faces. Anyway. Enjoy!

Fun Fact: All my OCs have black Rheiards.

Unless I lost count, the votes go as such:

Boy: 4

Girl: 3

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

A place as big as Asgard should have at least one bakery, Mesha thought as she wandered along, wishing Harley was around so he could at least help her carry some of the supplies. They were starting to get heavy, and her skinny little-girl-arms would probably soon start to shake. She cursed herself mentally, but soon forgot her troubles of being woefully short for her age when her nose led her towards the heavenly smells of bread and pastries being roasted to a slow perfection. Aha! Bread! The very last item on her list, then she could head back to the inn where the Professor had rented some rooms.

When she entered the shop, there was only one loaf of bread left so Mesha quickly moved to grab it. As she did, she bumped into another woman reaching for the same loaf. Mesha let out a girlish little squeak as she toppled over, the contents of her bag spilling onto the floor.

"Ah, Goddess! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The woman stooped down, pushing her thin glasses up the bridge of her nose as she and Mesha tracked apple gels and wedges of cheese across the bakery floor.

"Thanks," Mesha said when they had finished. But then they looked up and found that someone had taken the last loaf of bread. "Just my luck," Mesha muttered, putting her bags down onto the floor and sighing. She turned to the woman who had just helped her. "Sorry for knocking you over."

The woman laughed. "You were the one who fell," she reminded Mesha, who flushed. The woman extended a hand, and Mesha shook it.

"I'm Mesha Zerep."

"Kate. No last name."

"No last-? But-" Mesha stopped mid-sentence as she took a moment to look at the woman- _really_ look at her. There were things swirling in the air around her, like she had added a dye to the Asgard winds so that you could see it shifting and blowing against her green hair, unnatural just like her own. Mana, Raine called it. There was mana in the air around her. "Oh," she said softly. "You're a half-elf, too."

Not all half-elves were lucky enough to have a parent who cared for them like Mesha's father had, Mesha remembered too late. Often they wouldn't have a last name, or would make one up to fill that empty blank where their father's name should be. Whatever race he might be.

"Unfortunately." Kate looked at her wristwatch frowning. "The next batch should be coming around in half an hour." She sighed, putting a few fingers to her temple, before looking up at Mesha and smiling thinly. "Would you care to wait with me here, Mesha Zerep?"

"Oh. Uh, just 'Mesha'. And sure. Do you live here?"

Kate smiled again. "In the bakery?"

"No! I mean-"

"I know what you mean. You're just so easy to tease, forgive me."

Mesha flushed, but before she could answer a sudden whirlwind of orange and silver crashed through the open doorway, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Mesha!" Raine said, beginning to drag her out despite her surprised protests. "I've been searching everywhere for you. Come, we need to get out of here as soon as possible or we'll be caught!"

Kate took a step back, her thin green eyebrows shooting up. "Raine? Is that you?"

Raine paused, half-way out the door with a flustered Mesha in tow. She smiled, suddenly. "Oh, Kate! Hey! You look gre-" Raine stopped again, slapping her palm against her forehead. "I mean- I mean- Sorry I can't stay Kate, but I really have to leave right now. As in, right this very moment. 'Bye."

"Hold on a second…" Kate moved to block Raine's path, leaning forward to peer at her curiously. Her glasses slipped forward a bit and she paused to push them back up her nose. "You're acting odd. Are you really Raine?"

"Of course I'm Raine!" Raine snapped, thoughtlessly reaching out to push Kate's glasses up the bridge of her nose the next time they slipped. "Get a chain for those or something…" she muttered. "Anyway, I have to leave."

Kate laughed softly, putting a hand to her glasses. "You're Raine, all right. What did you steal this time, my friend?"

Raine seemed to take offense at that. "Nothing!" she said. There was a long silence between them as they had some sort of staring match. Raine eventually looked away. "_Nothing_!" she insisted as Mesha squirmed away from her grip to bend down and grab all the items she had bought. "I'm on the run from an angry ex."

Kate hissed in sympathy. "Well, why didn't you say so? Here," she grabbed Raine's hand and led her past the counter into the kitchen. Mesha jumped up to follow them, ignoring the rumbling in her belly as they passed rack upon rack of every baked good imaginable. Several were in the shape of famous ruins, like the Balacruf Mausoleum (which had been destroyed three years ago in the turmoil of the Regeneration Journey). Thinking fast, she grabbed one loaf of bread as they passed and left a gald piece in its place. Then she hurried to follow the older half-elves as they left through a back entrance and made their way to the housing area, where Harley was still waiting.

"What kind of ex?" Kate wanted to know as they snuck around buildings to avoid being seen. "Male or female?"

"Male. He's a human of Elvin descent." Raine helped Mesha along by holding some of the bags. "And he's the worst class of ex."

"Oh dear…" Kate looked over her shoulder at Raine. "Still In Love with you?"

"That's only the half of it."

"Suicidal?"

Raine let out a bark of laughter. "I wish."

"My Goddess, is he Homicidal?"

Mesha looked up in alarm. "Not really," Raine said, putting her fears to rest.

"Then how is he the worst kind of ex? 'Homicidal-Backslash-Still In Love' is the worst class, according to your standards."

Raine nervously held the bags closer to her chest. "There's one last one I forgot to tell you about because I… well… _forgot_," she said, knowing the truth was too bizarre to share now. "He's more than twenty years older than me don't give me that look, please."

"What look?"

"You're not really one in a position to judge who I sleep with. You're a lesbian, for Martel's sake. I just caught you in the middle of flirting with my student- who is off-limits to you, by the way."

"By the Goddess-"

Kate and Mesha flushed identical shades of scarlet as they looked at each other. Mesha almost slipped and sent her items scattering all across the ground. She hadn't noticed anything wrong with the way they were talking. Was it true? Or was Raine just being weird?

"Well at the very least they're always the same gender and I don't have to worry if they're _homicidal_, Raine!"

"I have exotic tastes in partners."

"Neurotic."

"Exotic," Raine insisted. "All right, we're here." Raine held out a hand for Mesha to halt, peering around the edge of the house they were hiding behind. She looked up at Linar's house, seeing shapes through the upper story windows. Harley and Linar would probably be upstairs doing whatever it was that Harley was so excited about, and Aisha would be downstairs. She must be cooking, if the smoke puffing out of the chimney was anything to go by. "We'll grab Harley and leave through the window."

"What?" Mesha gripped her bags tighter, wondering not for the first time what kind of person her Professor really was. The second story window seemed _very_ high up to her.

"With the Rheiards, Mesha." Raine reached into her coat pocket and pulling out the Wing Pack. Mesha could see the flying machines nestled safely inside, ready to be summoned forth at any time.

"…Oh."

"Indeed." Raine turned to Kate, smiling thinly. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer. I'll be back soon, though, and you've got to tell me all about those new ruins that were just excavated…"

"Good. Life's far too dull without you here to make me miserable. And good luck with your-"

"Eeek!" There was a crash of items tumbling to the floor and Mesha let out a few frightened squeaks. "Ah- R-Raine! Heh- heh- _help_!"

Kate and Raine whirled around to see Alex holding Mesha close to his side with one long arm. He tilted his head towards them in greeting. "My sweetling," he said to Raine, smiling. "There you are. It's been too long since I've seen you! Seven, eight years? Come here and give me a hug."

"Let me go!" Mesha yelped, squirming against his tight grip. "Raine! Help me!" She closed her eyes to resist shameful, frightened tears. "I don't want to be killed by your homicidal ex!"

"Ex?" He looked down at her in surprise, letting her go. She stumbled forward and would have fallen down again if Raine hadn't stepped forward to catch her, holding her close as she glared at Alex. "What has Raine been telling you, child? We're not ex anything. Legally, at least, we've been happily married for years."

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

Yuan stood with his forehead pressed against the door, his eyes closed as he listened. Inside the room, he could hear the sounds of mourning. Soft sniffles and pathetic, moaning wails, little-boy whimpers and then a sudden, angry crash as a table was overturned or a chair smashed against the wall and a scream of fury. He felt his own tears come, unbidden, unwanted.

"Mithos…" he whispered against the door before opening it and going in. The boy-king sat there on the floor, in his magnificent castle granted to him for saving the world. Vinheim, it was called, and Mithos never cared for it enough to ever get the name changed. He sat there with his skinny arms wrapped around his knees, trying so hard to be still that he was shaking with exertion. His long blond curtain of hair hid his face from the world.

"_Get out of here,"_ Mithos said. His voice was thick and slobbery.

"Mithos…" he said again, moving closer. "I…"

Mithos was suddenly on his feet, tears streaming freely down his cheeks. _"I said: get out of here!" _He stormed up to Yuan, shoving his chest with enough force to make the bluenette take a few steps back. When he tried to do it again, Yuan grabbed him by the wrist and held him back. There was a brilliant flash of purple light and suddenly the Eternal Sword was in Mithos's hands and he was brandishing it threateningly at the older half-elf.

"Mithos…" he was beginning to sound like a parrot. He shook his head. "Mithos, please. You've been in here for days. It's… time to get out," he finished feebly. "Martel is…"

"_Don't you say that name!"_ Mithos screeched, his pre-pubescent voice cracking. He took a wild slice at the air and Yuan was forced back. _"You don't have the right! You never loved her! You never wanted to marry her you didn't protect her you didn't want to be her husband _you didn't want to be my father_!" _With every accusation he swung the Eternal Sword with both hands, completely without form or control. At the end he swung it too hard and it went flying out of his grip to land in the wall, point-first and quivering. He shambled towards Yuan, his face suddenly melting and sloughing off the bones as he caught fire.

"Mithos..."

"_You didn't protect me. You betrayed me. You never loved me. You let us die. You let us die. You let us die."_

"MITHOS!"

Yuan went tumbling head over heels, his cape getting hopelessly tangled up in his own legs and the legs of the chair he had been sitting in. Even now in the waking world he tried to flee the wrath of his Lord, moaning piteously for forgiveness. He lay in a mess of unread papers, a sheaf of the stuff clinging to patches of his damp skin. The white of his hair mixed with the bright white of the paper, like snow had come early this year. He struggled, almost strangling himself with his own cape and then after a few moments of wrestling with it simply tugged it off, standing up and leaning against his desk for support. He couldn't see straight, much less see things coherently, but he saw the spilt coffee on his desk and the dim, slim shape standing in his office.

The stranger started, his hand whipping out. There was a sudden pain in Yuan's leg and he looked down to see a needle had suddenly sprouted there.

"You…" Yuan gurgled, taking an unsteady step forward before falling onto the ground. He saw the coffee he had been drinking before he passed out. The mug had been overturned and the thin brown liquid was slowly dripping onto his carpet. When it had been steaming hot he hadn't noticed anything odd about it, but now he smelled something terribly, terribly wrong. Focusing on it, he saw traces of something else in the coffee.

He reeled, drunkenly, and then collapsed onto the floor again as he heard the steps of the slim shadow stepping closer. He screamed out in fury, grasping out to try and reach for the stranger's ankles to pull him down.

"What… did you…_DO TO ME_," he tried to yell between his gritted teeth, his voice coming out crazed and frantic. Half his face was smushed against the carpet, his eyelids were fluttering madly. "You…" he panted, his strength almost drained. "YOU… DRUG…" pounding a fist against the carpet, he tried to reach for one of his knives. "DRUG…!"

"GUH- huah!" Yuan wheezed painfully clutching at his stomach. "D- DUH… M- MUH- ME…" He writhed on the floor, the colors in the room swimming. "YOU… DRUH- GUH- D-DUH-! YOU… YOU…_BAS- TA- TAH- TAH- R_!"

The stranger lifted something high in the air, thin, sharp, gleaming in the florescent light of his office. The coffee dripped onto the pure white papers, spreading, threading little brown snaking wriggling tendrils mixing with the red of the blood from when the needle had hit him, it splattered on the papers. White no more. Snow no more.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

A/N: Sweet dreams, Yuan.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Hey Zeloooooooos!"

Lloyd cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling out into the mansion. "Hey, Zelos! Get your butt over here!" He looked around, one hand running through his closely cropped brown hair as he sighed. Colette was walking around the living room, calling out as well.

"Zelos! Zeloooos! It's me, Colette! Zelos! ZEEEEEHHH- LOOOOOOOO- ooh!" she squeaked as she walked straight into something- into some_one_. Her nose bumped against the brightly polished armor and she took a few hurried steps back to look up into the eyes of her father-in-law.

"K-Kratos!" she said. "It's you!"

"It's me," he agreed. He looked up at Lloyd, who had come running over with a big grin on his face. "Hello, son."

"Dad! Hey! What are you doing here? Where's Zelos?" He reached out and gripped Kratos's forearm tightly, clapping him on the shoulder with his other hand.

"Zelos was gone when I arrived, and I would think that would be obvious," Kratos said. "I came to see you, and Colette, and her child."

Colette took a few steps back, one hand over her stomach as she guiltily looked at the floor.

Lloyd visibly paled and then flushed. "Dad," he said, clenching his fist tight. "I…" he glanced over at Colette and then quickly averted his eyes. "How much do you know?"

Kratos swept past his only son to stand before Colette again. "Not nearly enough. How far along are you now? Time gets muddled when I have to travel such a long distance."

"Four months," she said softly.

"And you- neither of you know who the father is?"

"No," Colette whispered. "But it can't be Lloyd because I- Because we never…touched."

Kratos's temple visibly throbbed and he put a hand to his forehead. "Colette," he said, "Where were you four months ago?" He closed his eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I need to know."

"Iselia," Lloyd answered. "We were visiting Dad. Dirk."

"But it wasn't anybody from Iselia!" Colette broke in, her jaw clenched.

Kratos surprised them both by rounding on her, his eyes ablaze. "Then who_ was _it, Colette?" He took a step forward, reaching out to grab her by the shoulders. "Are you unable to answer such a simple question? Who. Was. It?"

"Kratos…" she croaked, her eyes brimming. "It wasn't _anybody_." She broke free from him and went down one of Zelos's endless hallways. "Nobody believes me!" she yelled out when she was a good distance away. "No one believes me, but _I_ know the truth. It wasn't anybody, Kratos! There is no father!"


	10. My Greek Drama

A/N: Yo DMG! Long time no see. HA! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

GAH! Everyone wants the baby to be a girl! They all started singing a different tune the moment the word 'immaculate conception' was brought up. I swear, I never intended for everyone to automatically think "zomg Mother Mary and Jesus O.O". I wonder what tune you'll be singing when the secrets of the baby's conception come to light? Personally, I'm dying for the brat to be a boy, but if it's a girl that's cool too. It won't change the outline for the sequel much. Yes, there will be a sequel.

Girl: 6

Boy: 6

Have you ever wanted to wake up from your dreaming? It scared you so bad you couldn't control your heart or your breathing…

Sheena- "Drunk Again" by Reel Big Fish

And may I note that Sheena Chapters and Raine Chapters don't always take place right after the other? Sometimes they are hours, days, and many physical miles apart. Sometimes they occur at the same time. 3,371 words. Anyway… Enjoy!

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Four Rheiards cut through the sky, leaving a trail of multicolored smoke in their wake. They flew in a diamond formation, with a purple Rheiard leading the way. In the rider's seat was Sheena, her face paler than normal. The Rheiard to her left and the one to her right sped up a bit to fly closer to her, the riders sharing the same concerned face. They spoke at the same time.

"Hey hunny, are you feeling all-?"

"If you feel that there might be a relapse we could-"

Pandora and Zelos stopped, glaring at each other over the top of the ninja's head. But after they noticed the expression on her face, they cut their argument short and floated back to trail behind her. Sheena sighed in relief, glad she was spared another one of their lover's spats. Hater's spats. Whatever.

She looked down at her wrist, where her grandmother's charm was dangling innocently, as if it didn't carry dark secrets within it. The dark hemisphere glittered in the sun, bright enough to make her wince and turn her eyes away before they got damaged. Narrowing her eyes, she sped up to try and have the rushing winds cool her down. The heavy tropical humidity was beginning to make her feel like murder, as if the current circumstances weren't already enough to drive her insane.

"_I want answers."_

Suddenly, Genis's voice sounded through the ear pieces he had given each of them, sounding as clear as if he had been flying right next to her. "There's Altamira!"

Sheena looked down and, sure enough, the island paradise was rapidly coming into view. Already she could see the dim outline of the gigantic Ferris Wheel. "That's not Altamira!" Zelos complained loudly into the ear piece. "That's a whale."

"Since when do whales have trees on their backs?"

"Or Ferris Wheels, for that matter?"

Zelos looked from Genis to Pandora and back again, his eyes wide with horror. "Wait a second, you guys can't gang up on me like that! That's not fair!"

"We're not ganging up on you." Sheena could hear a sharp exclamation of breath as Pandora angrily huffed. "We're only saying the truth. Look…" the Rheiards had already traveled enough distance to distinctly see the buildings and rides of the island resort. "We were right."

"I still say it looked like a whale."

"Get your prescription checked, then."

Pandora laughed softly over the connection before Sheena reached up to her ear and snapped at the controls to turn the radio off, having had more than enough of their banter over the past few hours on the flight from Asgard to Altamira. Zelos, in true stalker fashion, had followed Pandora and Sheena to Triet and had demanded he be allowed to join their impromptu party.

"_Only if you know where we can find Raine."_

"_Is that it? Well, last I heard she was headed off towards Asgard…"_

They landed on the outskirts of the resort, shrinking their Rheiards into the Wing Packs and walking through the shimmering, golden gates of the island paradise. Genis stopped after a few steps, tugged at the collar of his coat, adjusting the thick wool in the oppressively heavy humidity, but eventually sighed in resignation and slipped his goggles up to rest on his forehead.

"You could take it off, you know," Pandora said, the side of her mouth twitching upwards.

"Ooh, yes. Take it _alllllll_ off."

"Zelos, shut up."

The Ex-Chosen shrugged the comment off and strode after Sheena, who hadn't waited for them at the gates. When he reached her he put a restraining hand on her shoulder and forced her to turn around, pointing at the two half-elves lagging behind them. "You'd better slow down or we'll lose them in the crowds," he said, smiling wryly down at her.

Sheena pulled away from him, relentlessly moving towards the EC that would take them to the main Lezareno Company Building.

"Sheena-" Zelos reached out again, but she practically slapped his hand away this time.

"_I'm sorry, you just missed her. She left for Altamira, I think, but I don't know what she'll do after that."_

"_Thanks anyway, Kate."_

"You don't know Raine like I do," she said, "She moves without warning. Even if she was here now, in five minutes she could be taking off again. So time is not ours to waste." She hopped into the EC and it took off almost before Zelos could manage to tumble in beside her, looking over his shoulder at the receding dock with a flustered face. Genis and Pandora were rapidly becoming strangers made fuzzy by distance, and soon they were making a turn and he couldn't see them at all.

"The Lezareno Building or the Amusement Park?" asked the employee running the ship. His cap was lowered to cover his eyes and only a few light red tendrils of hair escaped to dangle about his face, further obscuring his features.

"The building, please," Sheena said, sighing and sitting down.

"Of course. Please stay seated, ma'am."

"OK," Zelos said, settling down in the boat and taking off his pink glove to dangle a hand in the water, "I need answers, kiddo. Not three days ago you were running away at the sight of her and now suddenly you can't wait to see her again? What's so important about finding Raine?"

Sheena sat hunched in her seat, her knees drawn up to her chest as she stared forlornly at the ripples the EC motor made. "Sheena?" Zelos scooted closer, leaning forward and twisting in his seat so that he was looking at her in the face. "Sheeeee-naaah!" He said, grinning. "You can't tell me, of all people? I thought we were friends. Remember? Remember? You can't have forgotten."

"You two…" the employee said, interrupting and staring at them from behind huge black sunglasses. "You're…."

Zelos winked at him, pulling down the front of his shirt to show the boy his Cruxis Crystal. "I'm Zelos Wilder, yes. This lovely young thing here is Sheena Fujibayashi."

"So much for traveling incognito…" Sheena muttered, trailing one hand over the railing of the EC to run her hand through the seawater.

The employee smiled at Zelos. "Yes, I figured as much. Regal loves to talk about you."

"Oho?" Zelos left Sheena completely forgotten as he scooted closer to the boy, grinning hugely. "Does he now? You're a friend of his?"

"Not quite."

"Well, what's the blue boy been saying about us, little one?" He reached out to take off his sunglasses.

The boy flinched away, stopping the boat and standing up and pointing accusingly at Zelos. "He uses lots of big and fancy words that don't sound nearly as offensive, but in general he says you're such a pervert you'll sleep with anything that has a hole and heartbeat, and" –he pointed at Sheena now, his movement so violent the boat began to rock- "You're so deeply entrenched in honor you'd run away from the love of your life if it meant your village would respect you more."

The boy smiled sweetly at them, letting the sea breeze ruffle his hair as he took off his cap. "That's what he says."

Sheena didn't move. Zelos's eyes were wide for a moment, but then he smiled. "And you think the same way, sweetling?"

"Though I have not had the time to examine you both properly in your native environment to see if my suspicions are correct…" the boy pulled down the front of his shirt to reveal a blood red Ex-Sphere. He pressed the gem at the base of his throat and suddenly his deep, pubescent boy voice changed to that of a young girl. "I'd have to say… well…" he took off his sunglasses, revealing eyes like rain clouds. "Yeah!"

Light red- no, _pink_- hair waved in the calm sea breezes.

"Y-you!" Sheena said, scrambling to her feet and staring.

"I mean, you haven't really given me any evidence to the contrary," Presea continued, ignoring Sheena. She grinned at them, one hand on the knife at her belt as she tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"This is so like him," Pandora said, crossing her arms as she watched the boat get steadily smaller as the distance increased. "But then again, what can I expect from my dubious fiancé?"

"Not much," Genis answered, running a hand through his spiky blue hair. "Sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Pandora put a hand to the hilt of her sword for comfort as they waited for another EC to arrive. "You have nothing to be sorry for, unless you're sharing your sympathy for me because I have to marry a pig. In that case, please keep your sympathy as I have no use for it."

"Well… uh… I don't know," he admitted. "It just seemed like the polite thing to say, OK? What do you want from me? How about this: 'It's your fuckin' fault we got here too late and the boat left, you dumb bitch!'" He yelled the last part so loud a few couples stopped to stare at him. In response, he glared at them and yelled out a string of curse words that let them know that their very existence was in critical danger. They left.

"I like the first option, thank you," said Pandora when the last of the gawkers were gone.

"I thought you would," he said as the next EC came around, the motor humming with electric power. He stepped inside and helped Pandora in, shutting the gate closed behind them.

"Where to, Sir?" the boat man asked.

"Well?" he asked Pandora as she sat down daintily in one of the seats.

"Well," she said, "We _could_ go to the Lezareno Building and watch the no doubt awkward confrontation between Sheena and Raine. Or we could go to the amusement park and spend some time together now that Zelos is gone."

"To the amusement park, please," Genis said to the EC man.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Well now, kiddies," Presea said, reclining comfortably in the boat seat. "What brings you to Altamira? Please sit down, Sheena. Your theatrics aren't going to change anything."

"Raine," Sheena said, somewhat over her shock as she sat back down. "I heard she was headed here. Have you seen her?" She gripped the sides of her chair tightly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm sorry, no." Presea pressed a few buttons on the controls of the EC, putting it into auto-pilot. "Even if I had seen her, the chances are I would not have recognized the girl. I barely recognized you, in fact." Smiling, she folded her hands on her lap. "I've only ever talked to you through letters, Sheena, and I've only ever seen you in pictures. And you were always wearing some purple robe."

"….I'm lost," Zelos admitted to Sheena, his eyebrows rising up into his bangs. "Presea my darling little rosebud angelbunny sugar p-"

His stream of pet names was cut short. "Don't ask me," Presea said sharply. "Ask Regal. It's all his fault, if his constant bitching is anything to go by."

Sheena wondered if she had ever heard Presea utter a swear word before; Zelos _knew_ he'd never heard her say something foul before. "But that's not right," Sheena said. "I mean, it's not possible."

"It's not possible," Presea said, almost mockingly. "It's not possible." She laughed, softly. "It's not _possible_… If I can be thirty-one in the body of a fifteen year old, what's not possible, Sheena? What is possible, then? Can you tell me that?"

There was a long pause; Presea laughed again, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Regal's always telling me not to be rude, but it never seems to stick. Maybe he should just kill me like he did my sister Alicia, maybe then he'll be happy."

"You're not Presea," Sheena stood up, her voice frigid. "Presea would never talk like that!"

"And she wouldn't disrespect the memory of Alicia," Zelos added. Even he wasn't smiling now.

"I wouldn't know what your Presea would or would not do," Presea said, looking up at the younger woman calmly. "But because of Regal Bryant, your Presea is as dead as Alicia."

The EC jerked to a halt and Sheena almost fell out of the boat into the water.

"Sheena!" Zelos reached out, but Presea shoved him back into his seat with her beastly strength.

"That's why you should stay sitting down," Presea chided her, grabbing at the hem of her sleeve at the last minute. "Theatrics will only get you a cold splash here in Altamira. Here," she helped Sheena out of the boat, holding her hand gently in both of hers. Now that they were both standing on dry land, it shocked Sheena to see how little Presea had changed. At fifteen, she barely reached five feet tall and she was still as chestless and slim-hipped as a boy. Wait, no. Presea was thirty-one. Wait, no. She was…

Wait, if she was twelve when her aging was halted and it took sixteen years for it to be restored, and then you add the two years after that happened, so wouldn't she only be thirty? But then you have the individual months to consider….

The age thing with Presea had always made Sheena's head hurt, and this new development wasn't helping things any. But when she looked down into the girl's eyes, she saw the familiar stormy grey swirls that went on and on, forever and ever. The taciturn girl no longer, Presea still held too much hurt in her eyes for Sheena to stay angry at her for long. Sheena looked away, and Presea knew she had won.

"Please, just tell me what happened to you," said Sheena. It was as close to begging as she would get, but Presea still shook her head.

"Like I said, it's all Regal's fault. If you want answers, you go ask him." Presea shrugged and let go of Sheena's hand, melting off into the crowd before either of them could get a word in edgewise.

There was a long moment of silence between them before Zelos spoke up.

"Ever get the feeling you're living in a Greek drama?"

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Ack! Sorry!"

"It's fine."

"Yeah but-"

"Yeah but nothing. It's perfectly fine. You don't have to apologize for everything."

"But I-"

"_Genis_!" Pandora finally snapped, closing the door to the Ferris Wheel behind her. "You've seen me completely naked! Why should I care if you grabbed my ass? Zelos does it all the time; I just beat him up for it afterwards."

Genis's whole body was rigid with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to," he kept on.

"Yes, yes. You're a gentleman." She smiled at him before sitting down and resting her head against the glass, watching the ground recede as the ride started. "I haven't forgotten."

His face still red, Genis looked out of his own window on the seat opposite to Pandora.

"I haven't been on this thing in ages," Pandora said after a few minutes. "Not since Zelos and I stopped pretending to enjoy being engaged."

"Really?" Genis asked. "I always go on here."

"Always with a pretty girl?" she asked, hiding her grin behind a hand.

"Nope. Sometimes it's Lloyd, sometimes it's Raine. Once or twice Presea, and Zelos and Sheena. Never with Regal, but sometimes he goes on the roller coasters with me." He sat up, suddenly eager. "We should do that next, now that I think about it."

"Silly boy…" she murmured. "So you've always been with someone."

"Yep. And now… now I'm with you."

That made her look up at him, her eyes widened slightly in surprise and her lips pressed tightly together. Then she remembered herself and started to chuckle. "Yes, yes," she said. "You're a romantic. I _had_ forgotten."

"I am not."

"You take me to the Ferris Wheel on our date." She propped her feet up on the empty seat next to him, making herself comfortable. "You brought me flowers on our first date. You want to pull out chairs for me to sit. You're so eager to open the door for me you accidentally palm my butt instead. You're a romantic."

"This isn't a date," he reminded her. "We can't go on dates."

"…You're right," she admitted, bringing her feet back and lifting her knees up to her chest as she stared out of the glass again. She pressed her forehead against the surface, watching the sky begin to change to shades of orange and vermillion. She muttered something under her breath, something he didn't catch.

"What?" He frowned.

"Nothing, Genis. Absolutely nothing. Let's watch the sunset."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Regal."

Sheena and Zelos stood in the entrance to the President's office, Zelos leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and Sheena with a weak smile on her face. The former convict stepped up to greet them, giving Sheena a hug and offering to shake Zelos's hand.

"What the heck is wrong with Presea?" Zelos blurted.

The smile was wiped off of Regal's face faster than you could say 'touchy subject.' He cleared his throat and straightened his tie, glancing away. "So you've met her," he said.

"You could say that," Sheena said, moving into the room and taking a seat. She stared out of the windows, watching as the sun began to set. Another night would pass, and who could say where Raine would be when morning came? Derris-Kharlan, for all Sheena knew.

Regal's face was uncharacteristically dark as he sat back down behind his desk, looking much older than his years. He rubbed his fingers against his temple, sighing loudly. "There's no easy way to say this," he said, "And I had hoped that I could postpone telling any of you this in the hopes that it was only a passing phase, but…

"I convinced Presea to take off her old Ex-Sphere, the faulty Cruxis Crystal that had consumed her soul for so long. Presea agreed so long as she would be able to wear other Ex-Spheres to retain her unnatural strength. At first everything was fine, but as the days and months went by, she slowly began to change in…" Regal closed his eyes. "Disturbing ways. Eventually things have become as you see them now. I… I don't know how, and I don't know why, but Presea has lost all of her memory of the World Reunification Journey and the two years that followed it."

"Quite the disturbing thing, memory loss," said a voice from the corner of the room. Sheena jumped a few inches off the ground as a handsomely dressed older man suddenly made his presence known. He had been quietly standing next to Regal's book case, waiting for them to notice him. When they hadn't, he had spoken up. He closed his book with a snap and walked towards them. "I'm somewhat of an expert when it comes to things like this, but Presea is… an unusual young woman."

"Er… who are you?" Zelos asked.

"Oh." The man smacked the book against his forehead as if reprimanding himself. "Where are my manners? My name is Alexander Sage. It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Sheena."


	11. Combo! Colette and Kratos

POLL RESULTS

Girl – 6

Boy - 8

Boys are ahead by two points! Ooh, I'm excited! But please, people, only vote once. It's confusing me, and I have to double check posts to make sure a person hasn't already voted. Yeesh… oh, and this is just the vote for the first born. They are probably going to have a lot more, since they strike me as the type to have a huge happy family. And by the way, Sylvi? When you make that notebook, make sure to mention Zelos/Everyone.

Sadly no Matias this chapter. He seems to be pretty popular… and I really didn't expect that. I thought everyone would hate him! So this is a pleasant surprise. Sorry for the long wait but I've been extremely busy with my tae kwan do lessons and school and plus my internet DIED so that was trouble for a while…And forgive me if my geography sucks. I have no idea how the combined worlds look like so I just mashed together the locations.

Anyway…enjoy!

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Lloyd knocked on the door to Colette's room. At least the maids said this was the room she had locked herself in…. in any case, she didn't answer. Normally he wouldn't have knocked since they always shared a room anyway, but this time he felt the need to tread softer. After a few moments of silence from the other side of the door he frowned and pushed it open, looking around for some sign of his wife. There were none, except for her discarded white jacket and a wide open window.

The Eternal Swordsman cursed and ran to the window, craning his neck to look up at the far off golden flapping of blond hair in the wind. Putting one leg out, he tumbled out of the room and willed his wings to flicker to life. Lloyd made a strangled noise as his fall was cut abruptly short, feeling as though his wings would be ripped right out of his back. Awkwardly, he flapped them a few times and cut through the air, reminding himself to take a few more flying lessons from Kratos one of these days.

"Colette!" he said, but they were so high up he wasn't sure she heard him over the winds, even with her uncanny hearing. She floated with her arms crossed and her head bowed against the chilly autumn winds. "Colette!" he said again, flying over and putting a hand on her shoulder. If she hadn't already been in the air she would have jumped; instead she flinched and turned around, floating a few feet back with one arm crossed defensively across her belly. Transparent gossamer wings fluttered a few times and she calmed down once she recognized him. He moved after her, bending down to yell in her ear.

"Let's go back down!"

Colette nodded and they spiraled downwards, Lloyd wishing he had thought of bringing her jacket up with him. She was shivering still, so he wrapped one arm around her shoulder. "Are you OK?" he asked once they were safely perched on the roof to Zelos's house.

She shook her head no, and Lloyd felt an eerie wave of déjà vu, of the days when Colette wouldn't ever speak a word and she didn't feel the cold any more than she felt the burning sands of the Triet desert. The sudden irrational fear clenching his heart tightly in his chest faded as soon as she spoke, though.

"I'm sorry…"

Lloyd clapped a hand to his forehead. Of all the things to say, she had to say that hated phrase. "For what?" he demanded. "Kratos was being too harsh with you. It's his fault, OK? It's not your fault. I went and I had a talk with him after you left."

"What?" her eyes widened. "But he- He's your father."

"Uhuh." Lloyd placed his hand on his hips, looking down at her. "And you're my wife. What, did you forget that?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Never. I've never forgotten."

"Good. Then you know if he ever yells at you the way he did I'm gonna turn around and yell right back, right in his face." His right hand was resting on the pommel of his sword, like it always was, and he hopped back a few steps and drew it, slashing at the air. "I can kick his butt if I need to, too, and he knows it!" he grinned and sheathed the sword with a decisive thrust.

"Lloyd…" she rubbed her temple. "You don't have to do that. Kratos probably thought he was… defending you against me."

"Defen- _what_?" His mouth opened, but no sound came out. The wind on the mansion rooftop howled around them, making Colette's hair dance joyfully despite her somber mood. After a few moments of working his jaw Lloyd shook his head. "_What_?"

"Think about it," she said. "His only son got married and his wife his pregnant. And…" Colette flushed furiously, looking almost ready to cry. "And it- it- Well, you know. We've never… and I never… You know." She turned around and went to the very edge of the roof, letting the wind hit her even though she had begun to lose the feeling in her fingers and she was shivering worse than ever. "And I guess that makes him pretty mad. It won't be his grandson. Or granddaughter. And I know it makes you mad too."

_No it doesn't_, he tried to lie, but instead he bit his lip.

Colette smiled at the Meltokio ground under her feet. "See?"

"But I'm not mad at _you_!" Lloyd insisted. "I'm mad at whoever did this to you, and-!"

"And that's it!" Colette hunched over again, feeling her face heat up. "That's the problem, don't you see? No one did this to me! I know what you think, OK? I know what all of you think. I know you think I'm stupid, and naïve, and gullible, and you think someone took advantage of me when you weren't looking, and you think it's _your_ fault for not protecting me." The tiny angel clenched her fist to keep from punching it through the roof as she sat down, her legs dangling over the side. "But I'm telling the truth, Lloyd. No one touched me. I don't _need_ anyone to protect me anymore. I'm not the Chosen anymore, but I'm not a normal girl anymore, either. And I- I've been faithful to you."

Her shoulders shook harder, but not from the cold. Lloyd walked over and sat next to her, putting a gloved hand on her lap.

"I believe you," he said.

She looked up with a start, the tears streaming down her face. Her eyelids were a bright red that stood out starkly against her pale face and blue eyes.

"You do?"

"Yeah. How can I not?" Taking her frigid hand, he tried to warm it. "I think we've both seen enough to know anything can happen." He cupped her cheek and kissed her. "I brought your soul back, didn't I?"

Kratos stood at the doorway to the roof, watching them. He'd been standing there unnoticed for practically the entire time, but he finally decided to break in. "That you did," he agreed with Lloyd, causing them both to jump like startled sparrows. "And I think I might have a solution to your problem."

"Kr-Kratos?" Colette asked, gripping Lloyd's hand tightly.

Kratos sighed and looked away from her. "…."

"It's OK," Colette said, unable to tear her gaze from the floor. "I understand where you were coming from, Kratos."

"Thank you." Clearly feeling awkward in the current situation, he cleared his throat and coughed before continuing. "When I was an angel of Cruxis, one of my duties was to keep track of the mana lineage. Through lesser angels I would send messages to the families to let them know who their sons and daughters should marry in order to produce a Chosen most likely to be a proper vessel for Martel. But if a girl refused to be married or have children, I would… I would be forced to…" he struggled with the last bit. "Have my soldiers abduct her. We would take her to one of Yuan or Rodyle's labs, and there he would…. Artificially inseminate her." He pursed his lips. "The girl would be returned the same night with no memory of what happened, and remain a virgin since unnatural means were used to impregnate her. Mithos was particularly fond of that method," Kratos added bitterly, "He thought it would improve the people's faith if we had a miracle or two every so often."

There was a shocked silence on the roof, with only the howling wind to break it.

"So in the Holy Scriptures of Martel, when it would say that a Chosen was born without a father… All of the immaculate conceptions were faked?" Colette swallowed nervously as yet another pillar of her false faith was knocked to the ground.

"I'm afraid so, Colette." The seraphim crossed his arms, waiting for the accusation to come piling in. To his surprise, they didn't. He was grateful; he was only a simple man without answers to complicated questions.

"Was it magic?" Lloyd wanted to know.

"No. Just Cruxis technology. You should know by now how little magic had to do with Cruxis. It's always technology… and Cruxis Crystals."

Lloyd frowned, rubbing Colette's hand between his own to keep it from freezing again. He didn't want her to get sick- even though he didn't know if angels _could_ get sick, besides the obvious Angel Toxicosis. "And you think this is what happened to Colette."

"It's a possibility, and the only one I can think of that fits with the way she says things happened." Kratos walked over to them, holding out his hands in a gesture of hopelessness. "I just want to help, and I think taking you to Yuan is the only way I can. He has ways to find out what's going on."

Lloyd looked down at Colette. "You wanna?" he asked.

She nodded.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"There you are…"

Raine looked up with narrowed eyes as Alex entered the second story bedroom of Aisha's house. The human lost his smile and glanced away, crossing his arms defensively. "Are you upset with me still, Rainebow? I have a gift for you." He pulled out the same odd weapon she had seen earlier in the day. Grinning widely, Alex spun it in his hands. "The name is uncertain but most people are calling it the Balacruf Spade."

"How original."

Alex continued as if she had not spoken. "When the Asgard researchers excavated that new cavern, they found the graves of a few dozen Balacruf monks and records detailing how they used the spade for planting food and as a weapon as well."

Raine tried not to show that she had been pining for the staff ever since she had first set eyes on it; she failed miserably. Alex tossed it to her with a chuckle and she caught it, testing her finger on the edge of the shovel-like blade at the end while running her other hand along the smooth wooden shaft. The whole spade was easily bigger than she was.

"You must think you're so clever…" Raine sighed, too tired to put on an angry show. She shook her head, setting the spade aside and doing her best not to look at Alex. The half-elf was sitting at Linar's desk, an open book in front of her though she hadn't been reading it. Every time she tried she couldn't get past the first paragraph.

"I know I'm clever," said Alex. "But that's not why I came up here." His boots were heavy and clunked against the floor as he moved towards her, standing behind her chair and putting one hand on her shoulder and one on the side of her head, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I could have sworn I told Harley to keep an eye on you," she said.

He chuckled. "Your friends are easy to charm, I'm afraid. Do you want to know what they think of you?"

"No."

"Ahh, I thought so. Mesha is more than a little fond of you, you know. She notices the way you're so protective of her and she can't help but wonder why."

"I told you, I don't want to know what my friends think of me!" Raine snapped, turning in her seat to glare up at him. It was still a shock to see the grey in his hair, but she shoved the feelings to the back of her mind. It wasn't any concern of hers if Alex had begun to grow old while she stayed young.

"But she's not your friend," Alex insisted, his grip on her shoulder tightening. "You didn't take her on as your student out of pity or because of her talent. She's your _lover_, isn't she?"

Raine couldn't answer at first. The silence in the room was deafening as they stared each other down, eyes searching each other for some weakness. Then she burst into a violent fit of laughter, doubling over with her arms wrapped around her waist. Startled, Alex took a few steps back as Raine cried tears of mirth. His ears reddened after a moment and he looked away. She continued to laugh, unable to do anything else as all the years of hoarding up resentment towards him were washed away. Why was it so hard to stay mad at him?

"Fine, fine," he said, "I guess I was wrong this time."

"You guess? You _guess_?" Raine took a few deep breaths, resting her forehead against the desk. "Oh Alex, you know they say the mind is the first thing to go."

That seemed to strike a nerve in him. He'd always been vain. "There's nothing wrong with my mind. I just make mistakes, same as any other man."

"It was a mistake to tell them we were married," Raine said, her smile gone when she turned to look at him again. The shock wasn't so great, now, and she could bear to see his grey hair without guilt. "Why did you?"

"Because lies always get a person farther than the truth ever can," he said, smiling. "And because it provides a handy excuse to why we have the same last name. And because people believe it."

"Well, my students certainly seem to believe it," Raine muttered.

"Yes," Alex said, "And I already tried it on your friend Regal, and the lie makes so much sense."

"How do you know Regal?" Raine sat up straight, her eyebrows shooting up, incredulous.

"That's another story to tell. But the point it, this lie works well. It ties together all the little strings, the questions you leave unanswered. He's always suspected someone spurned your love, and now he thinks it was me." Alex laughed, softly. "And because I'm such a jealous husband I found out about your affair with the ninja…. Sheen? Sean? Is his name Sean?"

Raine matched his smile. "You couldn't find out the name?"

"Sadly, no. Maybe now that we're together again you can tell me?" He pressed his middle and index finger against her forehead. "Or…Do you want me to take the pain away again, Rainebow, and we can forget all of this?"

"I can forget all of this, you mean…" she said, pushing his hand away. "You did a sloppy job last time, you know. I had recollections of the Otherworldly Gate, and of Tethe'alla. I caused Genis quite a bit of grief."

"Genis…" Alex's face softened at the name. "I noticed he isn't attached to you by the hip."

"He grew up. He didn't want to be dependant on his 'older sister' anymore."

"Is he doing all right on his own? He's sixteen now, right?"

"He's in school now, and practically seventeen. His birthday is next month. And…" she lowered her voice. "And Kloitz. Kloitz will be seventeen, too."

"Rainebow…" Alex said, his tone changing. "Kloitz is.."

"I know what you're going to say," she interrupted, "You're going to say I need to let him go, that he's dead, and Mother is dead too. Well… your mother, maybe, but _my_ mother is alive, and so is Kloitz." She leaned forward, her lilac eyes glowing softly. "I saw him, Alex. I saw him, and I touched him, and he was real. Goddess help me, I almost killed him too, to keep him from killing me."

Alex was silent for what felt like eternity, then: "Are you cer-"

"Of course I'm certain!" she broke in, holding his hands so tightly her nails left crescent moons on his skin. "He made me _remember_. His eyes were purple. He had dyed his hair silver to be like Genis and me, but later on it grew out and I saw that his hair was really black as midnight." She could see the doubt still on his face. "You don't believe me? Fine. Go to Meltokio, he's-"

She broke off abruptly, letting him go and turning away. "He's in jail," she realized with a sinking feeling. "He's rotting in the dungeons for murder, and for conspiring with Cruxis."

Alex bristled. "Kloitz? _My_ Kloitz?" he shook his head, "You have to be wrong, Raine. It's some cruel trick this boy is pulling on you. Mother died when our boat crashed onto the shores of the Otherworldly Gates, and Kloitz-"

"_Your_ mother was not _my_ mother, Alex!" she snapped again, slamming one fist into her palm to drive the point home. "And is it so hard to believe that when someone else raised him, he turned out bad?" Raine asked. "He would have turned bad anyway. Just like us. This is a _Sage_ we're talking about. There's not a good one from the bunch, they're a whole orchard of bad apple trees, they married elves and Goddess knows what else, they-"

The side Alex's mouth twitched. "You don't have to remind me, Raine. But…your story contradicts something I thought to be the truth." He shook his head. "I won't believe this until I see it with my own eyes."

"You know as well as I do that it's not good to see the truth."

Alex turned and left as if she had not spoken. "Let's head out to Altamira first, though. Your friend Regal still needs to pay me for working with his brat."

"Wait- his brat? You mean Presea is sick?" Raine stood up and pushed the chair back, but he had already closed the door behind him. "Damn it, Alex…"

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Hey, Harley?" Mesha whispered as they walked out of Asgard, a few steps behind the Professor and the man who claimed to be her husband. "I'm not sure what to think of this guy."

"Whaddaya mean?" Harley asked, peeling an orange with his fingers. He handed her a slice since the Professor had rushed them all out of Aisha's house before they could eat breakfast.

"Well… I never met any other half-elves before you and the Professor. Mom was an elf, and Daddy was a human, so I knew what they felt like. But when I saw you two it…" Mesha spat out a seed and ate her orange to stall for time. "It was like someone slapped me in the face, and I knew," she finished finally, swallowing her orange. "It's the same way when I saw Kate for the first time. There's no way _not_ to know, you know?"

"Uhuh." Mesha could tell Harley was getting bored by the way he kept on glancing around him, but she kept on talking anyway.

"But this guy, he's different." She slowed down some and lowered her voice, in case he was listening. "It's kind of scary."

"It's nothing to be scared of, Mesha," Harley said. "He's probably a human with a half-elfin grandparent, or something. I can feel it too."

Mesha breathed a sigh of relief. "So it's not just me?" she asked hopefully.

"Naw. It's him. He's got it good, though." Harley spat out three seeds in rapid succession, managing to pin Alex in the back of the head with all of them. The older man winced and whirled around, and Harley waved at him with the biggest grin he could manage without retching up his orange. When Alex grumbled and turned back around, Harley snickered and continued. "With him it's hard to notice. It's not like us half-elves. And he can probably use magic while looking just like a normal freaking human. He's one lucky bastard, yeah."

Mesha decided to let his curse word slide for today. "I guess so," she said, stopping when she saw that the Professor and Alex had stopped. Professor Raine pulled out her Wing Pack and pressed a button. It caused the Rheiards to appear from thin air with a huge gust of smoke to herald their arrival. They caught Alex completely by surprise and he almost fell back onto his butt when he jumped to avoid the flying machines. Finding his balance last minute, he managed not to appear like a total fool.

"Wow, Raine," he said, running a hand over the sleek painted hull of Harley's Rheiard. "You've come a long way from when I first saw you teetering along on a bicycle." He threw one leg over the Rheiard, sitting himself comfortably with his hands running over the handlebars. "But they do look a bit like bicycles, don't they?" he mused, turning the handles right and left to get a feel for them.

"Bicycles that can fly into the ionosphere," Raine said, leaning over his shoulder and putting her hands over his, showing him how to turn the Rheiard on. She gave him a crash course on how to control the flying machine and then they were off, Raine sharing her Rheiard with Harley while Mesha rode alone, wondering how her life would have different if the tables were turned and it was the half-elves who were in power.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Are you two really going to get married?" Mithos made a face at his sister and her new fiancé. "That's gross. I don't want to be related to Yuan."

"You're already related to me, twerp." Yuan clenched his fist and shook it threateningly at the boy. "We have the same last name, remember?"

Martel chuckled and Kratos rolled his eyes, pulling out his sword to sharpen it. "Really, really distantly related!" Mithos spread his arms out wide to show them how distant they were. "If you guys go through with this, you'll be like my brother or something." Mithos's pale face paled even further. "No, wait. You'll be like my dad since Martel's practically my mom."

"Trust me, kid. I don't intend on being your dad. Ow!" Yuan grumbled as Martel elbowed him in the ribs and crossed his arms, huffing angrily.

"You two _behave_," Martel said, sternly. Kratos threw another log onto the fire, trying not to smile at his three half-elfin friends. After a while Martel got the two men in her life to reconcile by playing a song on her pipe flute and made them sing the lyrics to 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair.'

"_There once was a bear, a bear, a BEAR! All black and brown and covered in hair…."_

Kratos excused himself to go feed Noishe. The auburn soldier moved away from the warm glow of the camp fire into the nearby woods where Noishe was busy rolling in the mud. He chuckled. "Charming…" he said as the creature panted at him.

"…_from Here to There! Three boys a goat and a dancing bear…"_

He could only hear bits and pieces of the song when he was so far out, but Kratos knew it by heart anyway. It was one of Mithos's favorite songs, and he always had Martel sing it to him. Not minding the mud, he grabbed Noishe's head and played with him, letting him pretend to snip at his fingers. Noishe would never really bite him.

"…_will not dance with a hairy bear, said the maiden fair, the maid with honey in her hair…"_

"What are you doing so far from the fire, boy?" Kratos asked him, feeding him strips of dried meat. Noishe whined and slobbered all over his hand, but didn't eat the food. He had been on edge for the past few nights, and it was starting to disturb Kratos. Yuan dismissed it, Mithos didn't realize it, and Martel was sympathetic but ultimately didn't know how to calm the dog either.

"…_licked the honey from her hair! My bear! she squealed, My bear so fair!..."_

Kratos would remember that night. It was the night before Martel died, and Mithos went insane.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

"Yuan…?" Colette walked around the seraphim's office, her wings fluttering anxiously. Kratos stood in the doorway, his arms crossed as move his gaze across the room, looking for something, anything. He could feel a sense of wrongness in the room even though the papers were stacked up neatly on top of the desk, and a fresh mug of coffee was steaming on a corner of the wooden surface. It was as though Yuan had set down the work and just got up to stretch his legs- only he never came back. Lloyd was double-checking the base for him right now, and Kratos was alone with Colette.

Colette… When he had first read her letter, he didn't know how to react. More than once, the idea that it might be some kind of sick joke from Zelos popped into his mind, but he was pretty sure Zelos didn't know there was a way to contact him. He just didn't _understand_. He hadn't known what to do. And now he was confused again.

Kratos sighed loudly and paced around the room, running his fingers over statues and the shelf full of Yuan's books, searching for something to let him know he wasn't being paranoid and that Yuan was actually in danger. Or better yet, that he _was_ being paranoid and Yuan wasn't in danger.

Kratos was one of the finest swordsmen in the world. But, as Yuan was fond of pointing out, a sword was only good for one thing. But he had never really needed anything else- Yuan was the diplomat, Martel was the mage, Mithos… Mithos was everything. There was nothing the boy couldn't do if he truly wanted to learn. He had been a prodigy, and once he had control of all the summon spirits and the Eternal Sword, his talents were only limited to his imagination. And the boy had never lacked in that.

Kratos stopped when he came to a familiar red book in Yuan's bookshelf. The spine of the book, where the author's name should have been, was empty. The book had no words, not on the pages or on the cover. He knew this by experience. _If Yuan is really in danger, he'll forgive me for going into his lab_ Kratos thought as he opened the book and used his angelic vision to zoom in on the thread-like lock combination. Being as careful as he could, he shifted the threads with his thumbnail until they were aligned in the correct pattern for the shelf to slide back and a dark staircase to be revealed. Colette made a girlish, squeaky gasping noise and took a few steps back. Kratos didn't wait for her, making his way down the staircase, his heart pounding out a strong rhythm in his chest.

"Yuan?" he called out, flicking on light switches as he passed them, filling the narrow stair case with yellow light. "Yuan, are you here?" There was no response so he kept on searching until he reached the end of the staircase to look into the dark lab, feeling suddenly naked without his armor on. Dimly, he remembered leaving it in Zelos's mansion, forgetting to don it all in his haste to reach Yuan and get this confusion with Colette's baby all sorted out. At least he still had his sword at his waist and his shield strapped to his back. That was all a real man needed to protect himself.

He kept on, running a hand along various steel tables with grooves for the blood to stream through and leather straps to hold a subject down. It was surprisingly neat for being the lab of a mad scientist like Yuan was prone to be- neater than the rest of his office and base, at least. Mithos and Yuan had often sat together, poring over notes that Kratos couldn't make heads or tails out of. From those notes, monsters began to spring up in the declining world, and whenever that world would begin to ascend in power the monsters would inevitably die out. Then the two would have to start all over again, modifying them, making them stronger or weaker, or based on elements. Kratos picked one of Yuan's notebooks up and looked over it, trying to make sense of the mad scribbles. They still didn't make sense to the swordsman.

"Yuan?" he called out again, putting down the notebook and walking through the door to the Creature Incubation Lab. Here and there he could still see half-finished projects floating in some unnamable fluid in a test chamber. Here, he had once seen Rodyle and Pronyma, Kvar and Mithos… and yes, Yuan too. But never Kratos. His only talent was with a sword, and they had all known it. Kratos never needed a monster to be created. But Yuan…Yuan, his best friend… Yuan….

"Yuan's not here," someone whispered behind him, someone standing at his elbow in the gloom.

Kratos whirled around, pulling out his sword as he did so in a single, effortless, graceful movement. He swung his sword in one wide arc without any real target, seeking only to drive the intruder back. Steel screeched out against steel and he shifted his shield from his shoulder onto his arm, unfurling his wings as he pressed down with his sword, forcing the intruder on her knees. Hopping back a step, he thrust forward again and let his sword arm loose on whoever dared to try and sneak up on Kratos Aurion.

"Kratos, _stop it_!"

Kratos blinked, the swear words dying in his throat as he saw it was Colette who had snuck up on him, Colette flying along soundlessly on her tiny angel wings, Colette, his son's wife and practically Martel reborn. Had he truly forgotten that he wasn't working alone? Why didn't he consider that she might follow him down the stairs? She took a few steps back from him, a chakram held in one hand with her other arm hanging uselessly by her side as she bled onto the floor. The vermilion spill oozed along until it gurgled out of sight down the drains in the floor.

"Colette," he said, wiping his sword on his pant leg, hating himself for sounding so composed while she scattered her precious Chosen blood all over the floor. "Colette, I…"

"I'm not hurt bad," she lied, sinking to her knees and letting her chakram clatter to the floor as she cradled her arm, her face growing pale. "I'm not- I'm not."

He sheathed his sword quickly and moved towards her, trying to ignore how she flinched at the sudden movement. He held out her arm so that he could heal it to the best of his abilities. "Forgive me," he said, putting a glowing hand on her wound. "Please. I didn't know, but my mind shouldn't have been so clouded. I should have seen. **First Aid."**

"Oh no, this is nothing," Colette said, still smiling gamely. "You didn't hurt the baby so everything is fine. It's dark here. It was an accident. I should have known better than to sneak up on you like thwha- wha- what?" she flushed as he encircled her thin shoulders in a quick embrace before letting go and standing back.

"I truly need to apologize," he said, bowing his head to let his hair hang down over his face so that he didn't need to meet her prying eyes. "Not only for this. For many things. I've treated you…" he grasped at words, wishing for half of Yuan's verbosity. "…Unfairly."

"Oh, no!" Colette said as he used more magic on her arm. Nearly all the pain was gone by now. "No, no. Not at all. Well. I mean, you have, but I understand where you're coming from. I know you just love Lloyd a lot. Am I right?" She mustered up a small smile, acting as though he hadn't just tried to kill her.

He nodded, hesitant.

"And I love him too," she said, crossing her arms though the wound made her movements stiff. "And that's really all there is to it. Do you understand?"

Kratos did not, but he nodded anyway since that seemed to please her. "As my… daughter… I think I should show you a little more trust. And it would help me get over this if we could start over again with a fresh slate. So please…" he held out his hands. "I need your forgiveness."

Giving him a start, Colette laughed. He looked up from under his bangs, bewildered, until she flushed again and stammered an apology. "But there's nothing to forgive…" she said, smiling shyly again.

And for some reason, Kratos believed her. He managed a weak smile in return and wondered if perhaps he should say something else, but then turned around and began to search through the labs again, muttering something about how they should keep looking for Yuan.

"Well," Colette said, making sure her wings were buzzing loud enough so that he wouldn't get surprised again, "I don't think he's here. I can't hear anything, and I'm trying really hard."

"Nothing?" he asked, his lips pursed in an upset line. "Nothing at all?"

"Humming in the walls," she said softly, lowering her eyelids and cocking her head to the side as she concentrated. "Electricity. But there's nothing alive in here. Unless those things floating in the tubes…" Colette did her best not to grimace at a bloated dwarf-sized Cyclops to her right and quickly stepped away from it towards the tubes that were empty. Or, it might have been empty. The glass was fogged up for some reason, beads of water sometimes gathering and blazing new paths against the surface.

"Yuan cut the power to this place a long time ago," Kratos said, moving after Colette. "Mithos forced him to after he saw how Rodyle was more willing to use human subjects and was ultimately more useful in that branch of research. They were partners before he went groveling to Pronyma to try and worm his way into Lord Yggdrasil's favor." Kratos frowned for a moment, turning to Colette. "Rodyle went groveling, of course. Not Yuan." He shook his head, putting a hand to his face to hide a smile before he began to move back to the staircase.

Colette blinked and spoke up after him. "But if he cut off the power, then how come all this stuff is working?"

Kratos stopped at that, half-turning his head to look at her over his shoulder. He didn't say anything for a moment, the realization slowly dawning on his face as he moved to another test tube, one also covered up in fog. He roughly wiped his hand against the glass, his face unreadable as he peered inside….

"Colette," he said, "What is in that tube next to you?"

Colette bit her lip and did as he had just done, lifting up her arm and smudging her sleeve against the glass and pressed her face against the glass, her eyes narrowed to see better. She gave a sharp cry and then took a few steps back, her wings rigid with fear as she toppled over her own two feet and landed in some controls, causing all of the tubes to open with a hiss and dump their contents on the lab floor. The blue liquid evaporated as soon as they opened, sending up a thick blue steam that gathered in the ceiling before drifting away.

Kratos moved silently, stooping to catch Yuan as he slid from the tube, wires and tubes disconnecting from various points on his body. His shoulder-length silver hair was clinging to his face and neck with the thick blue substance the tube had been filled with, but it dried almost as soon as he was exposed to the environment outside the tube. Kratos lifted up Yuan's right hand- or what was left of it. Up until the wrist it was still the same as it had been before, only where he had once had a palm and five fingers he now had a smooth, round stump.

"Oh, Goddess," Colette whimpered, clambering over to kneel next to the two seraphim. She took Yuan's other hand, feeling for a pulse. Touching any part of him was like brushing your fingers against a block of solid ice. "Oh, Yuan. Oh, Yuan…" her hand moved to hover over his mouth, hoping to feel a breath. "Kratos, I think he's _dead_."

"He's not dead," Kratos said dutifully, his jaw working as he clenched his teeth tight and pressed glowing hands over Yuan. "**Healing Stream**!" he barked, and Yuan's skin warmed. But nothing else happened- much less a steady thrum of a heartbeat. Kratos's made a fist and struck Yuan's chest sharply. "**Healing Stream**!" he said again, pressing down with both fists.

There was a silence in the room, punctuated only by the steady hum of electricity running through the walls.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Mesha gripped the handlebars to her Rheiard tightly as she caught a speck of blue in the distance. For a while she tried to convince herself that it was just another large lake, but as they flew closer and the blue expanse never stopped growing, she couldn't contain herself any longer. She flipped on her headset to let everyone hear.

"The ocean!" she said, speeding up to zoom ahead of Harley, Raine, and Alex. "The ocean! That's the ocean! Harley, Harley, _look_!"

"Your girl is disturbingly perceptive," came Alex's voice over her headset. Mesha looked over her shoulder to see Raine making a face and flipping hers to a mute setting before settling down and holding onto Alex's waist. Mesha was glad that her Rheiard had turned out too small for anyone but her. If she'd had a normal sized one, Professor Raine and Alex would have taken two and let her and Harley share one.

She almost grew a little airsick at the thought of sharing a Rheiard with Harley at the controls. The half-elf tended to take sudden and meaningless nose-dives, loop-de-loops, and barrel rolls when the mood struck him.

As if sensing her thoughts, Harley sped up to keep pace right next to her- while he was cruising along upside down on his flying machine, of course. "Keep your pants on, Mesha," he said. "Tomorrow we're going to be flying over it, and you won't think it's so fun then."

Mesha blinked. "You don't like the ocean? I don't see how come."

"I don't like flying for hours without stop," he grumbled. "And I don't like the way the Professor acts around big bodies of water. And you have to admit there's no body like the Altamira Ocean."

"Well, up until right about now I've never seen anything bigger than Lake Umacy!" Mesha told him, almost bouncing in her seat. "So this is really exciting. Mother sometimes went to Palmacosta for trade and things like that, and she would tell me about the ocean but this is just insane. It's so _big_."

"Ahhh…" Harley nodded, flipping his Rheiard around so that he was riding right side up again. "I wish I had seen Palmacosta," he said wistfully. Then he smiled. "I mean, they built up Neo in its place but it's not the same. I wish I had seen it before it was destroyed in the World Reunification Journey. So I take it you never went with your mother to Palmacosta?"

Mesha slowly shook her head, her smile dropping a few molars. "No," she said.

"…I bet you could ask Professor Raine to take you to Neo!" Harley said, grinning impishly. "When we're done with Altamira and Meltokio, I bet she'll go wherever we ask. She never makes any decisions like that anymore cause she's seen it all already. And since you're the new student…" he trailed off meaningfully, waggling his red eyebrows. But before Mesha could answer yes or no, Raine turned on the headset again and told them to land. Harley shrugged and spiraled downwards after the Professor and Alex, the ends of his sleeves flapping in the wind. Allowing herself one last look at the endless blue, Mesha soon followed, landing down on a patch of springy grass in the plains near the ruins of Ozette.

Ozette had been one of the cities destroyed three years ago along with Palmacosta, but unlike the sea port town, Ozette had never been rebuilt. Mesha had often heard ghost stories about dead humans and half-elves getting up in the night to walk through the ruins to look for innocent children to join them in their endless existence. Suddenly, Mesha became _very_ concerned about Raine's choice in camping location (not that she was going to voice these concerns to anyone).

"We'll camp here tonight," Raine said, sitting sidesaddle on her Rheiard once it was landed safely on the ground. "Tomorrow morning we'll set off and by the afternoon we should be in Altamira."

Alex stood to the side, his arms crossed as he looked out at the haunted forest in the distance. Mesha glanced from him to Raine and back again, trying to puzzle out their secrets. When Alex caught her gazing at him with an intense expression he grinned and she looked away, embarrassed. Quickly, she made herself busy helping Harley set up tents while Raine pulled out a small notebook and began flipping through the pages until she came to a blank one. Pulling out a pencil, she began to write until the sun grew small in the sky.

Harley had pulled out flint and steel and was beginning to start up a fire when Raine stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. She put the notebook away and beckoned Mesha to her; the half-elf came with the expression of a man staggering to the gallows.

"It's that time again," Raine said, trying not to smile at Mesha's obvious angst.

Mesha sat cross-legged by the wood and kindling, her hands outstretched as she gave Raine one last pitiful look. "I really, really don't like fire Professor."

"Oh?" Raine smiled at that. "You don't think I've noticed that in the past few days? It's true you're better suited for Earth or Water-based magic, but it's always good to be well-rounded." She crossed her arms. "Start the fire, Mesha."

Alex chuckled from where he was preparing dinner for them under Harley's watchful eye, making sure this stranger didn't slip anything unhealthy into their food. "You're a cruel master, Raine."

Raine stood watching over Mesha, her entire posture imperious as Mesha made a few false starts, sending up tendrils of smoke but little else. "You're not putting enough effort into it," she said, ignoring Alex completely. "You have to feel it bubble up inside you, like boiling water." She bent down, holding Mesha's hands closer to the wood. "Channel it through your fingertips."

Mesha frowned deeper, closing her eyes and screwing up her face in concentration. There was a sudden gust of warm wind and the ground underneath her shimmered faintly. The breeze blew harder, coming in fits and starts and making Raine and Mesha's hair dance and twist, tangling together. Lapping orange tongues of flame began to spread without control, spilling out beyond the wood like a broken dam. Mesha's eye's popped open in fear and she shrank back, but Raine put a hand to the small of her back and pressed her forward gently.

"Use the incantation, Mesha," Raine said, "Control it."

"I…" Mesha closed her eyes again, wrenching her wrist free from Raine's grasp and jerking back from the fire. "I can't!"

There was a small explosion as the flames reared up high only to die out like a deranged birthday candle when a geyser of freezing cold water burst up to take it's place. Alex was chuckling happily while Harley scrambled over from the other side of the campsite, yelling his head off as he tried to find them among the ground made mucky from ash and water. He needn't have worried- Raine sent up a protective barrier over them both when she saw things get out of hand.

"Foolish girl…" she sighed.

"You _said_ it was like water bubbling up, Professor…" Mesha mumbled, her arms crossed defensively.

Alex finished preparing four sandwiches for them. He assumed that it might be some time before a proper fire managed to get going and decided that sandwiches were just about the only thing he could cook. He handed two to Raine and Mesha. "What I want to know is why _Raine_ is trying to teach black magic," he said. "You're a white mage, aren't you?"

Raine pursed her lips and pointed her staff at the wood. "**Fireball**!"

Alex stood with one hand on his hip while the other scratched his shaggy grey-black hair. The ground around the fire pit was still soaked from the water and tendrils of stream wafted up as the fire popped and hissed. Raine stood up, clapping her hands together once to get Harley's attention. He nodded and they moved to opposite sides of the fire, backs toward each other as they stretched out their arms, feet spread apart in a battle stance.

"**Ground Dasher**!"

"**Stalagmite**!"

The earth around the campsite buckled and bent, caving in and jutting out to form a formidable perimeter of solid rock. Alex threw up his hands in surrender, laughing harder. "So you've learned all the secrets of white magic, dabble in black magic, and still manage to give me bruises the size of Palmacosta. What does that make you?"

Raine shrugged.

"She's the Professor!"

The older party members turned to look at Mesha, the same blank expression on their faces. Harley was the first to react, smiling and tugging on the end of Mesha's pointy ear. "The midget speaks the truth!" he declared as she made a swipe at him, her face burning from embarrassment.

Alex shook his head, turning to knock a fist against the rock wall. "So," he said, changing the topic, "What do I do if I have to go pee?"

"That's why you go before we make the barrier."

"But I didn't know about the-"

"I know." Raine looked up at him. The flat of the blade on her new staff tapped against the toe of her boot. On the other side of the camp, Mesha was chasing Harley around with Raine's old staff in her hands, yelling something about midgets. "That's why I made the barrier."

"…You're a cruel master, Raine."

The half-elf smiled sweetly, scolded her students not to make so much noise, and left them to go to her tent.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Yuan began to spasm, his eyelids snapping open as he opened his mouth with a rasp, sucking in air like a dying fish. He began to cough violently, trying to push Kratos and Colette away with what was still remaining of his left hand. Kratos let him go readily, putting his palms in the air and moving back to let Yuan fall to the floor. Yuan tried to lift himself up, but he again made the mistake of trying to use his right hand. He stumbled again and shivered on the floor, coughing up gobs of the blue liquid that had filled his lungs.

Kratos took a deep, grateful breath, turning his head away respectfully from Yuan, from the pathetic state he was in. Colette could have cared less for his pride; she ran to him and cradled his head in her lap, saying soft soothing words to calm him down.

He tried to wriggle free from her, pushing at her feebly with his stump. "Ugh… leave me alone, damn you…" he said, his voice sounding as though he had swallowed a frog. He shook his head from side to side, closing his eyes. "Martel… Martel…" he said with every shake of his head. "Where are we, Martel?"

Kratos looked back at that. Colette gave him a confused look while Yuan kept on asking for Martel. Trying not to frown, Colette stroked his face gently. "It's OK, Yuan," the tiny angel said. "You're safe now. I'm here, and Kratos is here too, look."

His eyes still closed, Yuan heavily leaned into her, gripping at her shoulder tightly. "You need to get out of here," he said, "Before he-" the rest of Yuan's sentence was dissolved in a sudden fit of coughing. He spat up more of the blue gunk that instantly turned into a warm steam, wafting up into the ceiling. "Martel," he said after a few moments. "You need to- you need to-" he slowly opened his eyes again before jerking away from Colette, his stump raised up defensively in front of him.

"You're not-" he started, before biting his lip and looking away, the clarity coming back into his foggy blue eyes. "Yes… Martel is…" He swallowed once, a nervous reflex, searching the room until he spotted Kratos. The tenseness in his shoulders visibly relaxed when he spotted the warrior, and he clutched onto the nearby tube to help himself onto his feet. He suddenly began to shake and threw his head back. Alarmed, Kratos took a few steps towards him only to realize the silver haired seraph was laughing.

"Oh, oh…" Yuan said, tears streaming down his face as he lifted his stump to look at it. "What a fool." He shook his head, "Oh, what a fool. How could I have been so…" His mood shifted abruptly and he staggered over to Kratos. "Help me find some armor and a weapon," he said, a grim smile on his face. "I'm going on the warpath. That bastard. That _bastard_," he spat.

Kratos put a restraining hand on Yuan's shoulder to keep him from marching up the stairs. "You're in no condition to be fighting," he said firmly. Then, another idea struck him. "You know who did this to you?" he asked.

"No, but I'm certain to have security cameras in the-" Yuan paused to look at him, and then glanced over his shoulder at Colette. He was silent for a long while, before he asked in a voice so low it was almost a whisper:

"How did you know about this place?"

Kratos, insecure at the levels of fear he detected in his friend's eyes, pulled away and crossed his arms. "You showed it to me," he said warily.

"Um," Colette said, hovering over their shoulders with her bright pink wings fluttering, "Let's go find Lloyd and look at the cameras. We should get to the bottom of this."

Yuan turned on her, bristling with anger. "And who gave a low-class angel like you permission to speak?" he snapped. "Little bitch…"

Colette's eyes bugged out of her head. Her mouth opened in her a little 'o' of shock before she clapped both her hands to it, looking to Kratos for guidance.

Kratos didn't know what to say, but he felt he had to say something to end all this madness. "Yuan, perhaps you should-" Kratos began, but Yuan broke in.

"Don't even start!" he snarled, shoving past Kratos to stomp up the stairs. "I know what you're trying to do here, Kratos. But this proves nothing- and by the time you even get the chance to report to Yggdrasil the evidence will be long gone!"

Kratos grabbed him by the elbow, yanking him back. In his weakened state there was little he could do to resist besides glaring belligerently into Kratos's confused brown eyes. "Yuan," he said, "Yggdrasil is dead."

That took the fight out of him as surely as if Kratos had soundly smacked him. He could only clench his teeth, unbelieving. "You're full of-"

Kratos gripped his elbow tighter, shaking him. "Yggdrasil is _dead_," he repeated. "_Mithos_ is dead."

Yuan winced. "You're hurting me," he said softly, still refusing to break the staring contest that had sprung up between them. If he had still had fingers on his right hand, he would have clenched them in anger as the two men stood there in the dim light of the labs, lights still flickering from the tubes surrounding them.

"The bastard took my Cruxis Crystal," he added, wrenching free of Kratos and leaving them there in the dark.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

A/N: It is SUCH a hassle to remember who has what! Kloitz and Yuan both have their right hands chopped off, Kloitz's left hand is red up to his shoulder and Genis's right hand is red up to his shoulder. There. Maybe now I won't get confused in the future. PLEASE, PEOPLE! If you see continuity errors, TELL ME! Seriously! I need to know if I want to fix it!

Next Chapter- Altamira! Genis is rapidly becoming my favorite character. And I fantasize about him and Yuan. Don't give me that look. I think it's a _hawt_ pairing now that Genis is a teenager.

And as we delve deeper into Genis's relationship with Pandora as well as shed a little light on Presea's problem, the next chapter will also have… try not to scream… MATIAS! Boy oh boy, I can't wait to tell his story to you guys…


	12. Combo! Zelos and Presea

A/N: Continuity errors!. I said that Yuan lost his left hand instead of his right, and at one point I say Kratos is wearing armor when later he isn't. Sorry! And because I'm not always the best at explaining things within a chapter, I would like to say the previous chapter (with Raine & her group and Yuan and the other angels) happened the day BEFORE the Altamira events that transpire below. The chapter after this one will also take place 'yesterday'. Oh, and the last chapter was 8500-something words long, while this one is 7,448 words long. Yay.

(gives cookies to all the reviewers)

They're home made! And whoever guesses what novel the play is based on gets brownies, too!

Ugh, this chapter sucked, although I do love going into that treacherous side of Zelos. You know its there if you've played the game where he dies… And a scheming Presea is just too awesome! In case you can't tell, I enjoy twisting other people's brain-children around. Try to Enjoy.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Pandora's grip on his elbow tightened suddenly. Confused, Genis looked down at her with his eyebrows raised. She pursed her lips, shaking her head slightly as she stared straight ahead and kept on walking. "There's someone tailing us," she said after a moment.

"What? Really?"

"Yes. Don't look! Act natural."

Genis, who had been about to peek over his shoulder to see what he could see, straightened his back and let Pandora drag him around the resort. "Well, do you think they're dangerous?"

"He doesn't look like much," Pandora mused, stopping at a vendor to buy cotton candy. "But I know from personal experience that size doesn't always equal strength." He could see her trying to hide a grin. "I beat you up all the time, don't I?"

He bristled angrily at that. "Hey, if you would let me wear my Ex-Spheres I would mop the floor with that smug face of yours, and don't you forget it." He lifted up one fist to show her his Cruxis Crystal, pulsing softly with its own light. Pandora made a small sound that might have been agreement or disdain, but otherwise they didn't speak much until they reached Regal's office building. Genis showed the employees his pass card and they let them through to the elevators that would lead them to the President's office. By the way he saw the tension in Pandora's shoulders ease he could tell their little stalker had given up. He settled himself comfortably to lean against the elevator wall, adjusting the strap to the bulky goggles that nestled on his forehead.

"This will probably be the last time we'll be alone for a while." Pandora crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes and watching the floors fall as the elevator passed them. Her fingers itched to touch the blade at her hip. She sighed, frustrated. "This is getting tiresome, skulking about like this."

"Then maybe we should stop."

Pandora's head snapped up at that, her eyebrows shooting up into her bangs. "Stop?" she asked. "Stop what? According to you, we have a friendly student-teacher relationship only. I teach you how to not get killed and you….you…" Pandora struggled for words for a moment.

"Get the floor mopped with my face?" Genis suggested.

"You talk to me," Pandora finally finished. "You're my only half-elfin friend." Out of the blue, she reached out and snatched his hand, looking up at him and daring him to pull away. He didn't.

The elevator pinged and swung open its doors to find them standing on opposite sides of the cramped space; Pandora looking attractively bored in her silk and leather hunting outfit and Genis fiddling with the straps on his goggles. "Hey guys," he called out morosely to the group already assembled in Regal's office. "We're here."

"Naw," Zelos said, grinning ear to ear. "Really?" Sheena cuffed him soundly and he dropped into a silence, sulking in a corner of the office by himself.

"Genis. It's a pleasure to see you," intoned Regal from where he sat at his desk, taking off his reading glasses to fix Genis with his tranquil blue stare. Each time Genis saw the man, it seemed as if he had only grown taller, more muscled, and more serene than ever. The only disturbing things about Regal were the scars on his wrists and the fact that he had begun to develop the slightest traces of frown lines along his face. How old was he now? Genis struggled in his mind. Thirty-six?

Shrugging the thoughts away, Genis pointed an accusing finger at him. "You owe me a dinner, old man."

"Oh?" Regal's left eyebrow quirked up.

"Yep." Genis pulled on his goggles before letting them go to fly back against his forehead with a _snap!_ "And before you even begin to argue, I have evidence that will prove my case." He turned to Zelos and Sheena, grinning again. "Who says Regal needs to cook for us?" he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"We do!" Sheena threw her hand into the air while Zelos leapt up from his seat, punching at an imaginary enemy. Pandora sashayed past him to stand before Regal's desk, smiling thinly.

Regal shook his head, feigning disgust. "And a proper young lady like you would join in this revolt against me and my busy schedule?" he asked.

"I hear a lot about your cooking, Duke Bryant," she said as an answer.

Regal put his scarred, calloused hands up in a sign of defeat. "Very well then. You've convinced me."

"Don't listen to his moaning," drawled a voice from the open window. Genis blinked and turned to see a skinny boy toss one leg over the ledge and clamber into the office, his light red hair a mess from the ocean breeze. If Regal thought this was a strange phenomenon, he gave no sign of it. "He's been dying to cook for someone for months now."

The runty boy looked at each of them in turn, his eyes hidden behind huge sunglasses. He pointed at Zelos, "Ok, I know you-" he pointed now at Sheena, "-You-" his finger wavered when it reached Regal. "-Unfortunately I know you-" Pandora next. "-And you, by reputation."

Then he rounded on Genis. "But who the heck are you?"

Genis put his hands on his hips, knowing the situation was odd but too used to the bizarre by now to really care. All he knew was that this boy was giving him lip. "You're the one who barged in here," he shot back. "Tell me your name, stranger, and I'll tell you mine."

There was a collective groan in the room at the trademarked catchphrase.

"Genis," Sheena finally spoke up, stepping forward. "This is-"

"Waitasecond, I know who you are!" the boy yelled triumphantly, running over to yank at Genis's blue hair. "You're _Yuan_, aren't you?"

Genis snorted. "My name is Genis," he said. "Genis Sage."

The boy stopped to consider this, one hand on his chin as he tapped his foot, examining Genis from head to toe. Then he nodded. "That's cool. I'm Presea Combatir."

"And Presea Combatir," Regal said loudly, stepping over to yank the _girl's_ sunglasses off of her face, "Needs to stop using Ex-spheres to let her climb up walls and disguise her voice." He plucked at the end of her baggy shirt, distaste showing on his face.

Presea stuck her tongue out at him, Genis completely forgotten now. He was left to stare at her in shock, his jaw dropping. "Puh… Puh…" he said, and suddenly he was fourteen again and woefully inept at talking to girls. "_Presea_?"

"Yuh- yuh- yes!" she said, mimicking him with a grin. "You have gotten _tallllllll_!"

"No, no, no. Not at all. My dear little rosebud has gotten shorter!♥" Zelos crooned, standing over to ruffle her hair, all but swooning in delight. "Isn't she cute, Genis?"

Genis slowly shook his head. "N- I mean y-… wh- what?"

"Poor Genis is confused," Presea said, her voice dripping with sympathy. Zelos nodded, his lips puckered in a tearful expression. He clutched Presea's hand as if for support. She gave him a reassuring squeeze, looking on the verge of tears herself.

Regal shook his head, disgusted. "That's quite enough," he said, grabbing them and steering them towards the elevator. "Presea, please show Zelos to the rooms. I'll be down shortly. And for the Goddess's sake, don't climb in through the windows!" he added as the elevator pinged and they stepped inside.

"That was some pretty good improv," Presea said, amiably chatting with the Ex-Chosen. "I think you might have some good qualities after all, Master Zelos."

Zelos glowed from the flattery, a pleased smile plastered on his face. "Ah Presea, I'm falling for you all over again!♥" he said, flipping one strand of his long red hair out of his face. Their conversation continued, but Genis didn't hear any more as the doors swung shut and the elevator descended.

Regal sighed, smoothing back his long blue hair. "I'm sorry," he said, "I thought I would have a bit more time to warn you about Presea."

"Was that really Presea?" Genis asked, his mind still buzzing uncomfortably with this sudden rush of weirdness in his life. "She was so _alive_! I've never seen her like this before…" he grinned and clapped Regal on the shoulder. "Good Goddess, man! What have you been feeding her?"

Regal took a step back, the waters of his deep blue eyes suddenly troubled as he refused to meet Genis's gaze. "It was nothing she ate," he said gruffly, "It's… this is my fault for not taking proper precautions. I was a fool to think it would have been so easy for her to just get rid of that wretched Crystal!" Genis's eyebrows shot up at the anger in Regal's voice. Now it was his turn to take a step back.

Sheena spoke up, walking over to them from her plush seat in the office. "Apparently," she explained, putting a hand on Regal's forearm to calm him, "When Regal took her Cruxis Crystal away, Presea lost herself." There was a pause as Sheena considered something. "If what we saw of her was ever actually herself. This might be the real Presea, not the emotionless doll."

She gave Regal a meaningful glance. "It might be a _good_ thing, you know?"

"Not for Presea." Regal clenched his jaw.

"She seemed pretty happy to me," Genis mused, and Pandora agreed.

"From what little I saw of Presea, she was always a somber girl," she said. The half-elf put a hand to the hilt of her sword for reassurance before crossing her legs at the ankle and leaning against Regal's desk.

Regal shook his head, pulling away from Sheena. "She was never a girl," he said. "That Crystal did more damage than any of you can know. Even now that it is gone from her!" he angrily strode over to his desk, brushing Pandora aside as he pulled out a drawer and took something from the inside. It was a jewelry box, the musical kind, though it had been a long time since Regal had wound it up to let it play. He opened the box, plucking something luminescent from the inside. Holding up the rosy pink sphere, pulsing harmlessly in the center of his hand like a pearl in the confines of an oyster, he smiled a convict's smile. The scars on his wrists seemed to darken in the light of the Cruxis Crystal, standing out stark black against the white of his skin, the marks of his shame.

Then closed his fist and his hand enveloped the stone completely, snuffing out the light. "I would toss it in the ocean if I did not fear it would wash up somewhere where someone would be foolish enough to use it."

"You haven't tried destroying it?" Sheena asked.

Regal smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid to. The Crystals we've destroyed in the past- their hosts…. Mithos, Alicia… they were already dead when we shattered their Crystals. There's still too much I don't know about the Crystals, and I will not risk losing Presea."

"OK…" Genis said, drawing out his words to buy him more time to think. "So, Presea is her true self, and the Cruxis Crystal is safe with you, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that there are still things missing from Presea," Regal said. "Things I want her to have again. More than anything else, I want that."

"What kind of things?" Pandora asked, her face looking too innocent to be anything but devious. Genis shot her a questioning look, wanting to know what she was up to, but she ignored him.

Regal looked at her. "Things like the last three years," he said. "Slowly, she forgot everything, right up to the point when we supposedly cured her when we put a Key Crest over her Crystal. That's what she lost."

"You mean she doesn't even remember you killed Alicia?" Genis blurted.

Regal fixed him with a level gaze. "After the first few months of her memory slipping away she went into a deep sleep," he said. "When she regained consciousness she had forgotten everything. I waited for her to recover fully, and then I took her to Alicia's grave and told her the whole story."

The scars on his wrists never seemed so red and visible as they did then.

"That's twice I've had to tell that tale," he added softly, pulling down his sleeves to cover the marks of his sin. He put the Cruxis Crystal and the jewelry box back inside his desk.

Genis looked down at his own Cruxis Crystal, pulsing innocently on the back of his left hand. The Ex-sphere on his right hand seemed almost dull in comparison, and that bothered him on more than one level. He knew who had died to give the power into his right hand- Marble, the old woman he'd been unable to save. But whose soul was so important that it outshone the life of his lost friend? And would the strength of that soul rip his memory of the past eight months away if he were to take it off? He clenched his fist, thinking of Yuan when he had offered the Crystal to Genis. He had been reluctant, and this was why. That dishonest little….

The elevator pinged, breaking into his thoughts. The doors swung open and an incredibly tall, older man stepped out, his nose buried in a book. "Duke Bryant," he said, snapping the book shut. "I must say the books in your record room have been an invaluable help to me and my-" he stopped when he spotted Genis, his mouth open mid-sentence. He recovered quickly, striding forward to shake Genis's hand.

"Genis," he said, smiling strangely.

"Uh, yeah…" Genis said, wondering why his life was getting so complicated.

"Gee," Sheena spoke up, "I thought you would be busy in those archives for a whole lot longer, Dr._ Sage_." Genis blinked at the open hostility in her voice, looking over his shoulder at her. She seemed extremely pissed, but the reason was unknown to Genis.

_Did I miss something?_

The guy certainly looked like a doctor. His clothes were nice, except for that dusty old fedora he had and a red bandanna wrapped around his neck. When he entered the room he respectfully took the weather worn hat, holding it in his hand as he smiled at the room. Genis could see the unmistakable rusty color of dried blood on that bandanna.

"I'm Alex," the man said, letting his hand go. Genis could feel the traces of mana in the air around him, marking him as someone with elfin blood. "Alexander Sage. I'm helping your friend Presea in exchange for some information Duke Bryant has."

The only part of his name that rung a bell was his last name, for obvious reasons.

"Do I know you?" Genis asked.

"No, but I know you." Alex glanced up at Sheena for a moment before looking back into Genis's eyes. "Your sister Raine is a very good friend of mine."

Sheena snorted once before sitting down in one of the office chairs, pointedly looking away from Alex. So that would explain her anger… this guy must be one of Raine's old boyfriends. Genis shot her an apologetic look, wanting to say something to defend his sister and her fickle ways, but now was not the time.

Alex clapped Genis on the shoulder affectionately, wrenching him back so that they were standing side by side to face the rest of the room. "I'm sure you all won't mind if I take a little of his time, hmm?" he said. Of course, nobody had any reason why he shouldn't- except for Pandora, but she wasn't about to say so. Alex steered him towards the elevator, smiling amiably. "After you, son," he said.

"I'm not your son," Genis said, rolling his eyes. In his opinion, one of the most irritating things an older man could do was call him 'son', like he was so much wiser than him or something.

"Heh. In a better world, maybe…" Alex muttered as the doors swung shut.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"You know, I feel so much better now," Zelos said, walking arm-in-arm with Presea across the resort. Employees were beginning to light the lamps on the side of the street as it grew darker. "We got off on such a bad start, I was afraid this new you would hate me more than the old you did."

Presea was decidedly more feminine once she had taken off the baggy sweatshirt she wore over her normal clothes. Her hair wasn't as long as it used to be, but it was long enough for her to sweep it into a careless ponytail. She shrugged. "The old me hated you? Why? Were you a jerk?"

"Absolutely not!" Zelos said, shocked at the very idea. "I was ever the gentleman to my little rosebud. And you didn't really hate me," he continued, "You didn't feel anything. You were a dangerous little doll, but a doll nonetheless." The Ex-Chosen smiled down at her. "Does it irritate you that I know more about you than you do?"

Presea scoffed. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know you hate Regal."

Presea was silent at that. Zelos slowed and came to a halt, standing outside the doors to the hotel. He looked down at her, one hand on his hip and the other brushing his long hair out of his face. "I know you've always hated Regal."

Presea's foggy blue eyes were distant for a moment. Then she laughed again, looking at her feet and shaking her head. "You don't know anything about me," she said again, smiling thinly. "What do you want from me?"

Zelos grinned. "I haven't thought of anything yet. But whatever it is, I'll get it- if I want it bad enough."

"So you generally get what you want?"

"Not everything I want."

"And what _do_ you want?"

"Everything," he answered honestly.

Presea laughed again, louder this time. Her giggles filled the night air, causing several of the employees who knew her to stop and stare for a moment. When she stopped laughing, she shook her head once more. "That's ambitious of you. You think you're going to get everything?"

"Psh, no," Zelos said, rolling his eyes. "But haven't you ever wanted something you can't have?"

"Yeah…." she agreed. Then, suddenly, she said, "I like you." She crossed her arms, tilting her head to the side to examine him. "I can see why the old I didn't like you. Take that as a compliment," she added, glancing over her shoulder to where the Lezareno Company building loomed over the island resort, glittering from the inside where lights had been turned on to ward off the darkness. "It's been a long time since I've had everything," she said softly. "Maybe we can help each other."

"You read my mind. Come, let's walk a little more. The night is young, and we have a lot to catch up on, right?"

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Genis said, digging his heels into the ground and glaring at Alex, who still had a grip on his shoulder and was leading him outside the building to the main island. "I am not gonna be dragged around like luggage. I can follow you on my own."

"I just want to ask you a few questions, son," Alex said, trying to soothe him.

"I'm not your son," Genis said, "And you're pissing me off."

Alex scowled. "Would you stop acting like Kloitz for five minutes and listen to me?" he demanded, running a hand through his shaggy black hair.

Genis clenched his fist and made to move back to the elevator. "I am not like Kloitz," he said stiffly.

Alex reached out after him, pulling him back. "Hold on there a second, boy!"

Genis let him be pulled back, going with the motion to make a complete turn and charged straight into him with a fist to his chin, grabbing the front of the human's shirt with his free hand to keep him from backing off. Bringing his fist back, he followed up with another punch right into Alex's gut that made him double over. Genis let him sink to the floor.

He stood over the older man with one fist in the air, a fireball crackling in his palm as he marveled at how easy it was to beat Alex into submission. He tensed up, expecting Alex to move forward and try to head butt him in the stomach, but all he did was sit on the floor, one hand on his abdomen. It was then that Genis realized that Alex wasn't a fighter for all that he kept himself in shape. Even if he was, Genis was stronger, faster, and younger, and had the power of a Cruxis Crystal that would let him cast spells without an incantation and at half the speed he normally did. He felt invincible… and crushingly guilty.

He crouched down next to Alex, his face expressionless. "I am not like Kloitz," he said.

"I meant my brother," Alex wheezed, "Not your brother. Sorry for not…making the…distinction…son…"

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"_Good Goddess, not **you** people again!" the Fortune Teller- Claire- exclaimed when they burst in through the tent flap, dragging out the teenager who was currently getting her love fortune told. Pandora marched up to the woman while Genis waited just at the entrance, looking menacing enough to deter anyone from complaining that they were in line to see her first._

_Pandora's smile was bloodthirsty. "I know you use an Ex-sphere," she said. "What happens if you take it off?"_

_Claire gave her a weak smile. "Child, maybe if you sat down we could talk, hmmm?"_

"_Where did you get your Ex-sphere?" Pandora pressed, leaning towards the woman and putting one hand on her crystal ball._

"_Child, that is an expensive-"_

"_Don't call me child!" Pandora barked, gripping the Crystal ball threateningly. "I know this ball is bogus, so _tell-me-where-you-got-your-Ex-sphere-from_!"_

"Pandora?"

Pandora tilted her head, her expression detached. "Yes, Sheena?" she asked pleasantly. The half-elf was leaning against Regal's desk as he finished up some paperwork before he could go home and call it a day. She stared out the window at the black nighttime sea, doing her best to keep her face serenely blank from all worries, even if her mind was working full time.

Sheena didn't answer at first, sitting Indian style on the plush office chair, twiddling her thumbs. Her charm dangled from her wrist, glittering prettily in the light from the many lamps in the room. "I'm probably going to leave in the morning," she said at last. "Before this whole mess with my Ex-Sphere- I mean, with my bracelet started, I left Mizuho to follow a lead. I was looking for Kuchinawa, and my contact was in Izoold."

Pandora was surprised, but not terribly so. She hadn't failed to notice how, in Zelos's mansion, Sheena had almost let the word 'Izoold' slip before she changed it to 'Triet.' "So why did you go to Triet?" Pandora asked for the sake of conversation and the hopes that she might learn something to give her an advantage.

Sheena shrugged helplessly. "Hunch," she said. "But I need to show up in Izoold by tomorrow or the trail will go cold again."

Pandora couldn't help but smile. "So why are you telling me?" she said, walking over to Sheena to sit down next to her on the same chair, comfortably squished up against the ninja. Pandora generally kept her distance from people, but if she liked a person enough she could be like an affectionate cat. She also enjoyed the fact that Sheena didn't like being too close to another attractive girl.

"Because Zelos is likely to follow me, and I don't want you to follow me too," Sheena said, tensing only slightly as Pandora draped an arm around her shoulder. "…OK?"

"If Zelos goes after you," Pandora said, "You can bet I'll be there too."

Sheena made a frustrated sound, pulling away from Pandora and turning in her seat to give her a pleading look. "Come on, Pandora!" she said. "Why are you two always like that? Why does it always seem like you're competing over me?"

"Because we are," Pandora said, her eyebrows shooting up.

"_K- K- Katz!" she stuttered as Pandora held up her hand high above her head, letting her long fortune teller robes slide back to reveal the incriminating Ex-sphere that looked similar to Sheena's. "I got it from the Katz! It gives me limited telepathic and disguise abilities!"_

"You never noticed?" Pandora asked. "I thought I made it obvious I don't like him near you." She smiled crookedly, lowering her voice to whisper in Sheena's ear. "I get jealous."

Sheena gave Regal a panicked look, but if the blue-haired President had any knowledge of what they were whispering about he gave no sign. "Wait, you _like_ me?" Sheena hissed, giving voice to the suspicion she had been harboring for months.

"No. That is… well…of course I _like_ you," Pandora reassured her, "But do I harbor romantic _feelings_ for you? No. I just don't like Zelos."

Pandora could tell she wasn't totally convinced by the look on her face. Well, that was fine. Sheena could think whatever she wanted to think. Pandora settled back a safe distance from her friend while still maintaining physical contact since their thighs were still pressed against each other on the seat meant for one person. "I'll stay," she said. "Whether or not Zelos leaves." _That way I might have more time with Genis._

"Good," Sheena sighed, rubbing at her forehead.

"Only if you give me a kiss as a bribe," Pandora said, grinning wickedly. Regal looked up at that, his pen stopping as he blinked at them. Sheena turned a wonderful shade of red and bolted out of the seat, one arm crossed protectively across her chest as she stared at Pandora accusingly.

Pandora lowered her head and gave a throaty chuckle, covering her face with one hand.

"_What kind of disguises?" Pandora growled. "Tell me everything you know."_

"_It- it was expensive. The Katz was loath to part with it, but they all have a price. It can do a lot of things. I change my hair with it, but the Katz said it was very strong. A half-elf could pretend to be human, and it can affect what you're wearing, like make a dress look like a tuxedo, or, or, or opals look like diamonds."_

_Pandora let her go, stepping back. Her facial expression changed dramatically, her black eyes slow and thoughtful as she turned around and left the tent, Genis following after giving Claire one last, meaningful look._

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"My Goddess, you mean they actually have a different play now?" Zelos marveled. They took a seat, relaxing in the cool night air.

"Uh-huh," Presea agreed. "We're gonna have a new one every six months now, and they have me to thank for that. There's even entertainment in the bar, and they stopped forbidding minors from going in there and turned it into another restaurant since the one in the hotel is closed at night."

"Do they still serve alcohol, though?" Zelos asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah."

"Oh, goodie." He grinned at her. "So since you're like, Regal's business partner, that means you can get me free drinks, no?"

"No."

"You wound me darling," he said, pouting and then turning his attention to the play. "But then again, you have to be ruthless if you help run that company, don't you?

"This is supposed to be a scary play," Presea said, ignoring him as she watched it. "I haven't had an opportunity to enjoy it yet."

Zelos lounged in his seat in the outdoor theatre, gazing up at the stars. "I've seen it before," he said. "I almost wet my pants." Onstage, a figure in a dark cape crept up on an unsuspecting woman in white, fake mist trailing his every step.

"You did?"

"Did I say that? I meant Pandora was clinging to me the whole time." Zelos tapped his foot on the floor, already bored with the play. "So what kind of deal do you want to strike? I know what you want, but what can you offer me?"

"I can give you information about your fiancé," Presea said. "She's cheating on you. I followed her today."

Zelos was unimpressed. "No thanks," he said. "But like I said earlier, I don't know what I can get from you yet. So there's nothing really you can offer me- unless you honor me with your presence for the rest of the evening."

Presea checked her watch as the man onstage grabbed the woman, cackling evilly. "It's almost midnight," she said. "The evening is done. This is the night time now."

"Then spend the night with me?"

There was a light breeze from his direction, sending the scent of strawberries and soft flowers wafting over to her. The pink-haired girl shook her head, "You may be perverted, but you're not that perverted."

Zelos tilted his head to the side, smiling disarmingly. "I didn't say anything wrong," he said.

"That's what you meant it to sound like, though. You think I can't hear the words behind your words?"

"I have you now, Mina Harker!" the man onstage boomed before dissolving into manic laughter again. The woman was bleeding all over her white dress.

"Hmmm," Zelos said, "Well, whatever you say, Princess. Let's concentrate on the play for tonight. Try not to get scared," he added, teasingly.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

"Wait- what?" Genis faltered, the fireball in his palm dying. "Kloitz? You mean you're my _uncle_?"

"Unfortunately," Alex said, coughing. "Hehehee… You're the only one who knows, though." The laughing must have hurt him, because he winced. "Ugh, Raine sure taught you how to defend yourself, didn't she?"

Genis shook his head slowly. "No, I learned from someone else. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Alex sat back on his heels; he still too busy concentrating on how to breathe properly to answer him well. "Dunno," he said after a few moments.

Hesitating in case Alex was just trying to trick him into coming closer, he lifted his left hand and pressed the cool stone against a trickle of blood that streamed down from his cut lip. The Cruxis Crystal hungrily soaked it all up, seeming to gorge itself on the blood. Genis swallowed nervously before biting at his own lip and letting a little drop of blood well up before falling down to splash against the stone.

The crystal was dormant for a moment before exploding in a dazzling array of color and light. Then, quickly as it started, it stopped and was once more pulsing gently on his fist.

"Oh my G- you're really related to me, aren't you?" Genis said, wondering if it was his imagination or if his voice had gone a little shrill.

"Is that what that thing does?" Alex said, looking pointedly at his Crystal.

"Yes, I- I took it from Kloitz, who stole it from a friend of mine." He stared a bit more at Alex, seeing a shadow of his own face in him. His eyes were too dark, though. Kloitz and Raine's eyes were lavender instead of this deep violet, and Genis's eyes were blue like his mother. "I'm… sorry I hit you," he said awkwardly.

"Oh, now you're sorry?" Alex huffed, getting on one knee and then standing up. "You have the strength of an ox, son," he grumbled.

"You were being an asshole though," Genis quickly said, not wanting to seem _too_ repentant.

Alex groaned a little before tenderly shifting from side to side. "At least you didn't break a rib," he said. "Now, if you really want to make it up to me, you'll answer a few questions I have?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were my uncle in the first place?" Genis demanded, not answering him.

"Because I was ashamed of being an uncle to an insolent twerp like you were proving to be!" Alex said, snapping at him. "You and your- your _sister_ both seem to like knocking me senseless."

Genis perked up at that. "You've seen Raine?" he asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "I saw her in Asgard."

"Did she know you?" he continued.

"I thought I was the one asking questions?"

"Where is she now?"

"What happened eight months ago?"

Genis stopped as if he had been slapped, staring evenly at Alex. "Kloitz tried to kill my sister and my friends," he said, his lips pressed thinly together. "Now he's in jail. That's all there is to it."

Out on the main island, the employees were beginning to set up the street lamps to brighten the streets for the night time tourists to enjoy themselves on the island paradise.

"…I see," Alex said thoughtfully, one hand massaging his sore stomach. "This makes things a lot more interesting." Then he looked up, his expression confused, as he saw something behind Genis that warranted all his attention. "But hey," he said, "Isn't that Raine over there?!"

"What! Where?" Genis whirled around, scanning the crowd for the telltale cloud of white hair. "Where, Alex?" he said, looking over his shoulder to question his uncle. But Alex was gone.

When Regal, Pandora, and a blushing Sheena came down the elevator they found Genis harassing one of the employees. He had the unfortunate man by the front of his shirt with his legs dangling helplessly in the air as we waved his arms desperately for help.

"Where did he go?" Genis said. "There was a man here, where did he go? Did you see him leave?"

"Nuh- nuh- nuh- no sir!"

Genis gritted his teeth. "But you saw him with me, right?"

"Yessir!"

"Genis…" Regal said, taken aback. He blinked a few times before adjusting to the situation and prying Genis away from the man. "I would appreciate it if you didn't manhandle my employees."

"I'm a _MORON_!" Genis yelled to no one in particular, hunching over and yanking at his blue hair while the employee fled in terror. "_AAAARGGH_!"

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Eventually Genis calmed down enough to let Sheena coax what had happened out of him. All he said to her was that Alex had tricked him somehow and had split. Sheena was secretly glad, of course. The man was irritating. And… he was irritating. There was no other reason Sheena was jealous. Upset. Sheena was upset. Secretly upset.

But by the looks Pandora and Genis kept giving her she soon came to realize it wasn't that secret. She wanted to blush and scream at them to mind their own business, but then she would have to openly admit that she was upset. That was the last thing Sheena wanted right now.

"Let's just get to the rooms so I can go to bed," Sheena said, trudging along behind Regal as he led them to the Elemental Express and then to the hotel. If she still intended to go after Kuchinawa in the morning, she needed to get some sleep.

Pandora, who was walking alongside Sheena, stopped in her tracks as they reached the hotel. "Hey…" she said, looking at something far off. "Isn't that Presea?"

To Sheena's surprise, Genis suddenly rounded on Pandora, his face livid. "If you think I'll fall for that stupid trick two times, I-" he stopped when Presea came into his line of vision, walking alone from another elemental express. Then he flushed and turned around, walking into the hotel and out of sight. Pandora looked after him, her expression shrewd, before she excused herself from Sheena and Regal to chase him down and question him more thoroughly on how exactly Alex had gotten away.

"OK…" Sheena said, waiting for Presea at the steps into the hotel. "Hi Presea," she said when the formerly taciturn girl arrived, trying to sound cheerful.

"It's late," Regal said to her.

"I was watching the play," Presea said, brushing past him to give Sheena a brief hug before vanishing into the hotel as well.

Regal made a disgruntled noise before going inside and getting a vacant room for Sheena. "I live in the top floor in one of the suites," he informed her, "If you need anything at all it shouldn't be too difficult to find me." Sheena nodded and they stepped into the elevator. Regal got off first, giving her a small nod goodbye as the doors closed between them and Sheena was left alone with the buzzing and clunking noises of the machinery.

She sighed, resting her forehead against the cool metal doors. Assuming it was midnight, she would probably get five hours of sleep before she would head out to Izoold. Even before this stressful day had happened, Sheena suffered from insomnia and an aching hurt in her mind, begging to be drowned and washed away. But when the elevator pinged and she made her way to one of the luxury suites, she felt the weight of the shadows around her and the moonlight streaming through the window and was comforted, and by the breeze whispering through the open window and the fire waiting for her in the hearth.

Gnome wiggled in her pocket, clambering out of his hiding place to rest on her shoulder where he made himself comfortable against her ear. Lying on the bed was a complimentary bottle of chilled Flanoir potion and a basket of fruit that all of the expensive rooms had, to be refreshed every day by the maids. Sheena grabbed the bottle and put it in the closet where it wouldn't haunt her.

"Remind me to ask the maids not to bring that stuff in here," she murmured to Gnome, who squeaked in agreement. She kicked off her shoes and then flopped onto the mattress with her arm thrown across her face, too tired to pull the sheets down. Gnome morphed into something heavier, like a dog, and cuddled up next to her while she slept and to guard her against anything that might come in the night.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Sheena's eyes snapped open when she felt a sharp needle prick on her arm. She sat up, trembling slightly as Gnome's cat-eyes glowed at her in the semi-darkness. He had one paw stretched out, brown claws digging into her skin.

"I heard someone scream," he whispered to her. Then, surprisingly nimble for such an obese cat, he sprung off the bed to the open window, balancing precariously on the ledge. He jerked his head outside. "Over there."

Sheena padded over to the window as silently as he had. She craned her head outside to see that not too far off, someone's balcony door was wide open and clanging in the wind. She remembered how Meltokio was having crime problems and wondered if Altamira was next, being the next biggest city. "Do you have any winged shapes?" Sheena asked him, hopping on one foot as she put her slipper on.

"Do I look like the Summon Spirit of Wind to you?" Gnome asked her, affronted.

"Well, I had to ask," she muttered, putting one foot on the window ledge. "OK, lesson gravity on me for a little bit, would you?"

"Uh, sure…" he said, hopping onto her shoulder. When he gave her the signal Sheena pushed off from the window, flying through the air with her arms wind-milling frantically until she landed safely on the balcony- but not the balcony she was aiming for. Her heart was beating a little too fast and she briefly made a note to herself that if she ever did that again, she needed the Sylph to help steer her properly. Or, you know, keep her Wing Pack handy more often.

Luckily, the balcony was a lot closer now and Sheena reached it with only her normal ninja training to thank. Pulling out a few of her enchanted cards, she stepped into the room, her eyes spotting signs of a struggle. The door to the hallway was wide open, spilling golden lamp light into the room and illuminating a puddle of blood seeping into the carpet. Before Sheena could think of what to do next she heard footsteps approaching and Presea's voice shouting loudly.

"He's in here!" she said, leaping into the doorway. She held a wickedly sharp axe in her hands, and Sheena panicked for a moment when she saw the crimson splash on her pink nightgown before realizing it wasn't Presea's blood. Regal and Zelos stood behind her, Regal clicking his shackles into place and Zelos brandishing a naked blade.

Sheena resisted the urge to freeze up, instead taking a few steps into the light so that they wouldn't mistake her for the intruder. "I heard someone scream," she said as an explanation.

"That was me," Presea said, shame-faced. "Someone startled me in the night, so I stabbed him and went for help."

"Well…" Sheena scanned the room. Being the master of shadows, there wasn't much that could hide from her. "He's not here now."

_Yes I am._

Something dark dropped from the ceiling to land behind her, slapping her cards out of her hands and yanking an arm around her throat, holding her up in front of him as a human shield. There was a dry rattle of scales and feathers as Matias limped towards the balcony, dragging Sheena with him. _Call your friends off_, he said harshly into her mind. _Or I will kill you._

"Get your hands off of me!" Sheena snarled, slicing her arm through the air. A strip of the floor surged up, slamming into Matias's side and sending him sprawling to the other side of the room. Gnome bristled and spit angrily at the pseudo angel, little chunks of marble gravitating around his head.

_It's me you should have been worried about,_ Sheena sent to him. She put up a hand to halt Gnome from finishing him off and approached him warily. He was slouched against the wall, his violet eyes weak and out of focus. The ninja could see three distinct tears across his pale cheek as if from the claws of a small beast- or the nails of an angry young girl like Presea- along with countless other bleeding gashes all over his body that weren't as fresh. Under his ripped coat she could see tight linen bandages wrapped around his chest, soaking up the blood.

He looked up at her before he passed out from pain and blood-loss.

…_Bitch…_

**OoOoOoOoOo**

**A/N:** Did you know Microsoft Word has 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' in its dictionary yet doesn't have 'dunno'? Well, I was internet-less again so I didn't have much to do but write this chapter. So Alex is Genis's uncle- or so he claims. At the very least they're closely related.

So here's your Matias! But the shape he's in, he might not be around for long, if you know what I mean. Presea is a little more inclined towards self-preservation now that she has a mind and soul, not like before when she would throw herself into the middle of a battle.

Also, I didn't intend this while I was writing this chapter, but when everyone rushed to Presea's aid, Genis and Pandora aren't among them. Makes ya wonder what they were doing while this was going on…Maybe… Having fencing lessons! **: D**

Next Chapter: SMOOCHIE SMOOCH! MMMMWAH! (bursts into evil giggles)

_**OR**_

Lloyd, Kratos, and Colette try to convince Yuan that his memory is lost. And as for why Raine isn't in Altamira when she's supposed to be…


	13. The Face of the Moon

**A/N:** Cookies for reviewers! They're home-baked by Genis, and still warm. To DMG, weird and fresh describes my life. To Meowzy, I don't know either. And Mishka, you demand more Sheena/Raine? ….Well, I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait a few more chapters before they so much as talk to each other again. But there will be plenty of flashbacks, so don't worry.

**Did you know that when it snows my eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen?**

…..Should Colette have a freak of nature for a baby that grows seven mouths and sings the song that will end the world Lovecraft style? Should I make Matias a vampire? Should I make Sheena a vampire-_ninja_? I need to make someone a vampire. My life lacks vampires. And aliens. And Unicorns would be a change of pace. But how would I introduce vampires? Why did ToS have ghosts and dragons and zombies and elves and unicorns and angels and gigantic purple bears but it didn't have _vampires_, for chrissakes?

_Possible Plots Ideas: Moon-girls come from Tethe'alla and offer immortality in return for Colette's freakish hermaphrodite baby._

_Yuan becomes a vampire. Sucks Genis's…blood._

_Little old ladies take over the world and must be terminated through ventilation shafts._

_Sheena and Raine make sweet love in zero gravity, thank you Sylph for providing air. Voyeur aliens, ooh-la-la. Hell, let's have the aliens join in._

_Kratos rides off into the sunset on Noishe's back, screaming "Hi-ho, SILVER!"_

_Pandora: No way can I be what I'm not. But hey… don't you want your girl **hot**?_

_Genis is Colette's baby's father._

_Sheena becomes a sharpshooter thanks to Cruxis technology providing her with laser guns._

_Kloitz unleashes the T-virus and Mesha becomes infected. Harley has to kill her or be killed. The sequel is all about how the main characters must survive in a world plagued with the undead._

_KRSSSSSH-HAAAH. KRSSSSH-HAAAAH. "Lloyd, I am your father." KRSSSHHH-HAAH. KRSSSSH-HAAAH._

_Raine starts wearing a leather jacket and a fedora; suddenly her phobia of water is turned into a phobia of snakes. She has a whip, but only uses it on Sheena._

_Presea is Colette's baby's father._

_Zelos insists people start calling him "Zelda" and wears frilly maid uniforms._

_I can't think of any more ridiculous ideas. You're all welcome to give me suggestions!_

_5,280 words. Enjoy!_

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

The Renegade Base's kitchen used to be fully stocked to feed some thousand mouths, complete with the means to cook these ingredients. But over the past three years the larders dwindled until there was only enough for Yuan- that is to say, there were a few dozen vats of coffee grounds stacked up neatly in a corner since the seraph had no need for food. Ever since the Kloitz incident he had marginally regained some of his mortal qualities other than unrestrained emotions, but he still didn't require the three meals a day a human or a half-elf would. Luckily for Lloyd, in the short time that Genis had been with Yuan the angel had thought it wise to store enough food for one person.

Trying to keep himself occupied by doing something with his hands, the Eternal Swordsman got busy preparing two sandwiches with all the works- ham, sweet honey chicken, turkey, and two healthy slabs of yellow cheese- and tossed them into an oven to toast. Then he funneled his energy into pulling out a knife and deftly chopping a helpless tomato into thin, manageable slices. This kept his mind occupied to avoid thinking of the recent, disturbing turn of event.

"I hope that isn't for me," Kratos said, making him jump in surprise. He hadn't heard his father enter the room. "I can't stand tomatoes."

Lloyd chuckled, pulling out some lettuce from Yuan's cool-box that ran on electricity and could keep meat and milk and other things from spoiling in the heat. "Yeah, I know," he said. "But you can't really eat food, can you?"

"That doesn't change the fact that I have always loathed tomatoes." Kratos leaned against the counter, tracking Lloyd's every move with expressionless eyes. The younger swordsman pulled the toasted sandwiches out of the oven to load them with heaps of tomatoes and lettuce.

"Who is the other sandwich for?" Kratos asked as Lloyd sawed one sandwich in half.

"Colette," Lloyd answered, grabbing the other sandwich. "I figured she might be hungry by now."

"Ah…" the seraph ran a hand through his auburn hair. "I've already taken care of that. She ate lunch with Yuan in his office while they went over the video files from his security system."

Lloyd narrowly avoided shortening his middle finger. Carelessly tossing the knife into the sink, he ran cold water over the shallow cut. "Could have told me that," he muttered. "So are all the videos the same one from earlier?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Damn. Well…is Yuan convinced that he's actually 4,000 years old yet? He didn't suddenly remember over dinner or something, right?"

"If only it were that simple." Kratos took one of the sandwiches. Hesitating at the last moment, he peeled the top bun off and scraped the tomatoes into a waste bin before eating. He chewed thoughtfully and methodically, having no real hunger, but enjoying the simple pleasure of it anyway. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah," Lloyd said, "Just a little uneasy." He glanced down at his Cruxis Crystal, wondering what it would be like to have no hand. He flexed his fingers once or twice, decided that they weren't about to fall off any time soon, and relaxed slightly. "You don't think this- this whole thing with Yuan losing his memory just as we get here to ask him questions- has anything to do with Colette, do you?" he asked his father.

"I can't be certain until I learn more."

"And when will that be?"

"When Yuan decides he'll talk to someone- someone other than Colette," he added. "Though I can understand why he'd rather be with her than us."

Lloyd nodded, frowning. "Yeah. Having his hand chopped off must've been tough, and Colette's always been good with people. If anyone can help him, she can."

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Raine woke up when a hand clamped over her mouth and she was lifted up and dragged to the perimeter of the supposedly safe campground. Ignoring the panic that threatened to flood her system, (Thrash! Flail! Scream! No! What's happening? Someone _help_ me!) she calmly began to ready a spell before Alex's familiar face filled her vision, one finger pressed to his lip for silence. When she realized it was him some of the urgency left her, but she refused to cancel her spell until he let her go.

_What?_ She mouthed to him, clutching her staff tightly against her chest to try and still her beating heart. But the half-elf tried to keep an unbiased mind once she saw that Alex seemed genuinely upset. For all she knew he had heard enemies outside and hadn't thought her perimeter would be enough to keep the monsters away.

He pointed to the perimeter, his face a mask of barely concealed anxiety. Checking to make sure Mesha and Harley were both sound asleep, he pointed again to the perimeter. Then he pointed to Raine and himself, and then snapped his fingers.

_Outside. You and me. Now._

Raine shrugged, a quick jerky movement that belied the anger bubbling under the surface. Holding one hand palm out at the perimeter, she spoke two harsh words: "**God's Hand!**" and then punched once.

It was almost as if the hand of an angry deity really _had_ knocked the earth away- and it was silent, too. Alex was unnerved, but proceeded through the perimeter anyway. He wasn't about to show Raine that her newly acquired black magic made him nervous.

"**Stalagmite**."

A sharp spike reared up towards the sky, covering the entrance to the campsite and locking Raine's students safely inside. Alex beckoned again and they moved into the forest, a good distance from the camp. Only then did Alex speak out loud.

"I know what happened eight months ago," he said to the ground near his foot. "Or sort of what happened."

Raine sighed, running a hand along the smooth surface of the unicorn horn. "Is that what this is about?" she asked. "It could have waited until morning, you know." Alex didn't respond, so she looked up from the unicorn horn to raise her eyebrow at him. It was bright outside- the moon turned her face down to peer at the two scholars standing in her light.

"It can't," Alex said after a moment, shaking his head and taking two quick steps to envelop her in a tight embrace, trapping her hands against his chest as he pulled her close with need. "I need to know I'm doing the right thing. Rainebow, help me. I'm confused."

Clouds moved; thick black hands covering the eyes on the face of the moon.

"Alex-" Raine said, stopping short and tensing when he crushed her mouth against his with his hands sliding along her back down the rough wool of her orange traveling coat. She jerked her head away, her ears suddenly filled with the soft rustling sound of the fresh snow falling down in waves to cover the floor. Or no- that was just her imagination. When she slapped him it made a resounding crack that broke the serenity of the night and left a throbbing red print on his face. Five crescent moons were present on his cheek; a few of the marks were bleeding.

"Do not," Raine said, her hand frozen in the air, "-_Ever_- touch me again, Alex."

The bloody tips of her short nails were illuminated in a stray moonbeam breaking through the clouds. In the light, she suddenly saw him standing only a few yards behind Alex. At first she didn't believe her eyes, and then she remembered that the only things she _could_ believe in her life were her own senses. Fear almost made her hands shake, but she was in better control of her emotions than mot people.

"I'm sorry, I'm…" Alex said, oblivious to the danger lurking in the shadows.

"Get out of the way, you fool!" Raine said, forgetting that she never wanted to touch him again and shoving him out of the way. She held her staff out defensively. "**Holy So-!"**

Alex grabbed at her elbow from behind, giving it a sharp twist as he hooked one foot around her leg and forced her to the floor, one hand clamped tightly around her neck. Kuchinawa stepped out of the shadows and joined them in the moonlight.

"I'm so sorry," Alex finished.

"You were supposed to come alone," Kuchinawa said with his expressionless black eyes regarding Raine like a lab specimen. "This changes the plan."

"Alex, _no_," Raine breathed.

"I didn't like Kloitz's plan," Alex said. "And you can tell him that. I don't want Raine to get hurt. Or her students," he added.

Kuchinawa regarded him for a moment. "Kloitz will not-"

"Kloitz isn't my master," Alex said, his violet eyes narrowed. "There's only so much I'm willing to do if he's not going to tell me the whole story! So until I start getting answers, you're going to do things my way, understand?"

"Kloitz?" Raine demanded, trying to sound intimidating while pinned to the ground. "You're working with _Kloitz_? You really are going senile!"

"Don't talk, Raine. This will all be over soon."

"This will all be over _now_! Let me go! **Photon!**"

Two beams of light shot out; one blasted Alex off of Raine and slammed him into a tree while the other was easily dodged by Kuchinawa. He leapt and ricocheted off of the trunk of one of the trees, landing a safe distance away from where the spell had struck. Raine pointed her staff at where he had landed. "**Indign-!"**

Once more Raine's spell was halted. Forgoing any fancy martial arts moves, Alex barreled into her and knocked her staff out of her hands. But this time, Raine was ready. She sprung free of him, pulling a few poisoned needles out of her endless pockets and plunging them into his arm. He yelled in pain, stumbling back and ripping them out, feeling the burn of the poison enter his system. Kuchinawa rushed in with his dagger; Raine hooked a toe under her staff and kicked it up. Steel sang out against steel as she blocked his attack with the crescent moon end of her staff. She grinned up at him when their weapons were locked together, and said: "**Fireball**."

Fire burst out from the end of her staff with explosive force, knocking Kuchinawa three yards back into the foliage. Seeing her chance, Raine tore off in the direction of the perimeter, intent on warning her students of the danger.

Ultimately, Raine was done in by a trick she had seen countless times, done by countless schoolboys to their unsuspecting victim. One foot was put out in her path, tripping her up and sending her sprawling. The Professor moved with the fall and rolled to the side, holding out her staff at Kuchinawa. Half of his mask had been burnt away and little tongues of flames still danced along the ends of his sleeves and pant legs. He was fast, able to knock her staff to the side like a toy and clap thin steel shackles around her wrists. Somehow he also managed to slap her, and she hadn't even seen his hands move.

Raine struggled to one knee, thinking that if Regal could fight with his feet than so could she. "Why didn't you _burn_?" she said, her voice an angry hiss.

Kuchinawa kicked her in the ribs, knocking her down again. Rolling onto her back, she raised her shackled hands up to him, her palms crackling with energy. "Lightning!" she said.

Nothing happened. Raine tried to get up, her hands still pointed at Kuchinawa.

"Light-!"

Kuchinawa slapped her again, a backhanded slap. Infuriated, Raine lunged at him, cracking her shackled hands against his head in a wild swing. He pulled one fist back and punched her stomach, and then when she doubled over in pain he hop-stepped back and _crack! _The flat of his foot caught her under the chin, making her vision erupt into stars. Raine fell down on her side, and Raine stayed down. Alex burst through the foliage, his hair and clothes hopelessly tangled with leaves and twigs. "Raine!" he said, shoving Kuchinawa aside and putting a hand under Raine's neck, trying to lift her limp body with one arm. His other arm, the poisoned one, was hanging uselessly by his side. He shook her. "Raine! _Raine!_ No!"

"She saw me," Kuchinawa said, half of his face awash with blood from where Raine's shackles had cut him. "The mission was jeopardized. I did what I had to."

"Kloitz said he didn't want to hurt her!"

"The master says many things." Kuchinawa took a few steps back into the shadows. "Take care of the other two."

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"_Get out of here,"_ Mithos said. His voice was thick and slobbery.

"Mithos…" Yuan said again, moving closer. "I…"

Mithos flew to his feet, tears streaming down his cheeks. _"I said get out of here!" _He ran up to Yuan, shoving him with enough force to make the bluenette take a few steps back. When the boy tried to do it again, Yuan grabbed him by the wrist and held him back. There was a brilliant flash of purple light and suddenly the Eternal Sword was in Mithos's hands and he was brandishing it threateningly at the older half-elf.

Yuan held up his hands for peace, backing away from the Eternal Swordsman. "Mithos, you've been in here for days. Martel is…"

"_Don't you dare say her name!"_ Mithos said, bringing his sword down. Yuan drew his own blade and deflected the attack, pulling off his cape and tossing it into Mithos's face. The boy sliced through it and lunged point first at Yuan's chest.

Yuan's blade had somehow disappeared. He was left only to watch helplessly as he was skewered by the boy who would have been his brother and almost a son, who now was holding a strange double bladed sword. Mithos lifted him up like a bug pinned on the end of a needle, a manic grin plastered on his face.

"M-Mithos…" Yuan said, clutching at the blade until his hands began to bleed. "Mithos, no…"

Mithos's eyes began to glow a deep, dark violet.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Yuan almost fell off of his chair when he woke up with a start, still feeling a deep ache in his chest from where Mithos had stabbed him in the dream. He reached up and ran a few fingers though his blue- no, silver- hair, trying to smooth it back as Colette turned to him, her eyebrows raised in confusion. She had been looking through his modest library, not having the heart to wake him up from his nap.

"I fell asleep?" he said, shaking his head and looking at where his Cruxis Crystal ought to be. Mithos had said that he wouldn't need things like sleep, or food, or emotions. He could finally forget the pain…

"According to Genis, you do that sometimes," Colette chirped, her pink wings buzzing happily. She tended to keep them out for balance, even when she wasn't fighting. Now that she was no longer the Chosen, they didn't have the weight of the world on them and she used them freely. "Even when you had your Cruxis Crystal. Cause his brother Kloitz messed around with it when he stole Mithos's Crystal."

"Genis," Yuan said, tasting the name on his tongue. Not familiar at all. The former Seraph shrugged and kicked his feet up on his desk. "Who is he, my lover?"

Colette's eyes widened. "NO," she said. "He's your best- he's your friend," she corrected herself, not knowing what ideas Yuan might get from saying _best_ friend. Even if it was true nowadays, since Kratos was always on Derris-Kharlan. She noticed a muddy pawprint on her white coat and began to swipe at it, agitated. "Aw, Noishe got me dirty again…" she muttered.

"All right, so assuming you aren't spouting complete bull-" he stopped, controlling his tongue in the presence of a young lady. "According to you, it's been four-thousand years after the events if the Great Kharlan War and Noishe is still _alive_?"

"That's right," Colette said, smiling to herself as she went over Yuan's book case, looking at the titles he had. "Kratos gave him to us after he left for Derris-Kharlan."

"That's a big hole in your story, young lady…" the former seraph grumbled, crossing his arm over the stump that had once been his right hand. He made himself comfortable, edging his feet farther onto the desk. "Noishe ran away after Martel died… How can a dog live four-thousand years?"

Colette turned to face him, still smiling. "I dunno, how can a human like Kratos live four-thousand years? Besides, Noishe isn't a dog. We talked to some elves and they said he's an Arshish."

"Those are extinct."

"Not anymore!"

Yuan opened his mouth, but then closed it and stared at her in disbelief. Then he made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and glared at his desk. "I still don't see what Kratos is trying to gain by telling such a ridiculous story. Is he trying to catch me off guard?"

"You know, just 'cause you don't remember the last few thousand years doesn't mean they didn't happen."

The seraph sighed, and then tried to give her a weak, fake smile. "All right then. Let's continue assuming your story is the truth," he said amiably, wishing he still had all his fingers so he could form a steeple with them on the desk. His phantom hand twitched, and even ached. It was so hard to remember it wasn't there anymore. "According to your story, I've lost all my memories up to the point where Mithos gave me a Cruxis Crystal. So I've lost roughly three thousand five hundred years of memory. In the last three years you and your eight companions found a way to outsmart Mithos and the Desian Grand Cardinals, destroy all the Human Ranches, collect most of the ex-spheres, and…"

"And revived the Great Tree, and reunited the worlds." Colette paused to smile and laugh softly, though Yuan couldn't find anything amusing about the situation.

"So you're the murderer of my best friend and brother-in-law," he concluded.

It was as if he had punched her. She stiffened and the smile was wiped off her face, and suddenly the angel was on the verge of tears. "He was _my_ friend, too," she said to the book in her hand.

"You killed the Cardinals as well, no?" Yuan asked. "Leonard and Artemis, Pronyma, Dafyyd, Stephan? They were friends of mine."

The electric doors slid open. "Actually, everyone except Pronyma died a long time ago, Yuan." Kratos was in his armor again, though not his usual purple and white mercenary plate mail. He had gone through Yuan's armory and found a fitting replacement. White foreign sigils decorated his green surcoat while thin, light chainmail could be heard clinking underneath. His boots were silent against the cushy carpet, no longer metal but supple brown leather. "And it was Mithos who wound up killing Pronyma in the end."

Yuan sat back in his chair, his frosty blue eyes trained on Kratos's every move.

"You're going to talk to me eventually," Kratos said as Colette used this opportunity to leave the room, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. "I know you."

Yuan rolled his eyes heavenward and waved his stump in a small circle. _So what?_

Kratos set his jaw. "And you're not leaving this room until you _do_ talk, so you'd best find your tongue, unless they cut it out when they made you a cripple." He turned back around and was about to leave Yuan's study when the former seraph finally spoke.

"Why is it," he said, getting up and pointing his stump at Kratos, "That whenever I see your human friend, his face fills me with an inexorable rage?" He smiled, his silver bangs falling down into his face as he tilted his head in a questioning expression.

Kratos sighed and rested his head against the door frame. He should have known Yuan would have broken his silence with something like this. "He's my son," the seraph said.

That caught Yuan by surprise. He sat back down, looking less smug as he considered this. "Lloyd Irving Aurion…" he said, pulling up a mental picture of the boy and comparing it to Kratos standing in front of him. "Yes, I see the resemblance, now that you mention it. He looks like you when you were young."

Yuan's hair was in his face again. His newly acquired fringe annoyed Yuan to no end, especially the fact that it was a different color. Yuan had been there when Mithos split the worlds, so he knew that certain things that seemed impossible could happen, no matter how hard they were to believe. But he didn't see _anything_ that would ever convince him to change his hair. It was barely long enough to brush the top of his shoulders.

"Well then, I suppose I'll just have to believe you for now," Yuan said, crossing his legs at the knees as he smiled at Kratos.

Kratos blinked. "You will?"

"Of course. I am a scientist at heart, so until I receive proof there's no way for me to say that what you're telling me is _not_ true." He waved a hand at the controls to his security system on his desk, disgusted. "But those weren't much help, so you'd better find some solid evidence fast, or you'll find it hard to convince me."

Kratos looked over at the monitors that had sprung up from the desk. When they had gone over the video files, every single one had been deleted and replaced with one file, ripped from the security system of the Renegade Base in Flanoir. Kratos tapped at the screen, picking a file at random.

For the first half hour it would be a screen showing the empty Rest Area in the Flanoir Base. Kratos fast-forwarded a moment and then stopped, watching as an explosion of smoke filled up the camera screen. When it cleared, it showed a figure in red dragging a silver-haired man to the Refresher. The man was bleeding like a stuck pig, leaving bright scarlet smears on the floor. Kratos fast-forwarded again, watching the man in red tend to the wounded man at super-speed until he paused at a single frame.

Kuchinawa was kneeling on one knee before his master as Kloitz leaned over, cupping the back of his neck with one hand and kissing him on the forehead. The scene was reminiscent of an old man bestowing his blessing on some young knight-errant.

Kratos pressed 'play'.

Kuchinawa stepped back and disappeared in another puff of smoke, already gone by the time a diminutive Kratos stepped into the camera's line of vision. There was a silent exchange between the two, silent because the camera's had no sound recording devices on them. Kratos pulled out his sword, stepping forward as the screen faded to black. When the picture was restored, it was of a freeze-frame of Yuan, still with his blue hair, standing to the side with his arms crossed. This eventually faded to black as well, with bold white letters springing up to take its place.

**Does this look familiar?**

The letters scrambled and were erased, to be swapped for another line of bold white letters:

**Perhaps now you will know his pain.**

The letters faded and were replaced of an image of Kloitz, half-dead and attached to the Refresher. A red circle was drawn over the stump of his right hand. For a half a second, a strange insignia flashed before their eyes and the screen dissolved into static and snow.

And that's where it ended.

"Peh," Yuan snorted when Kratos turned the monitor off. "If what Colette tells me is true, it should be you without a hand. You're the one who cut his off."

The seraph crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "You would have done the same."

Yuan grunted something, feeling his phantom fingers twitch. "Still, it's your fault he stole my hand."

"He didn't steal it," Kratos muttered, sounding uncomfortable. "It was in another one of those tubes. I burned it while you were in here."

"What!" Yuan yelped. "I could have reattached it, you fool!"

"No, you couldn't," Kratos said.

"And why not?"

Kratos was silent for a while. "They did things to it," he said, his voice gruff. "It was mutilated."

The former seraph slammed his remaining fist down onto his desk. "Damn you, Kratos…" he said. "Damn you. Damn you for dragging me into _your_ problems!"

The mercenary's eyes snapped open, glaring angrily at Yuan. "You're the one who mercilessly hunted him down across the earth!" he said. "You're the one who dragged me into this struggle! You gave aid to his brother and then gave him Mithos's Cruxis Crystal. You-" Kratos took a few steps back as Yuan surged to his feet, knocking one of the monitors clear off his desk onto the floor. His face was an angry scarlet, his left hand clenched tightly onto the edge of his desk.

"I would have never- I _never_-" he said, still quivering. He pointed his stump at Kratos, "You are _lying_! I'm leaving now, and you are _not_ going to stand in my path." He stalked past Kratos, pulling his cape off of where it hung from a peg on the wall and twirling it around his shoulders. Kratos tried to put a restraining hand on his shoulder but Yuan angrily shrugged him off, moving down the hallway towards the Rheiard hanger.

"Yuan!" Kratos said, jogging after his friend and unsure of what he should do. He still didn't know how frail Yuan might be after his recent ordeal, and was afraid of touching him to try and stop him. Instead, he moved and barred the way, holding his arms out on either side in front of the door to the hanger. "Yuan, what's wrong?"

Yuan stomped his foot, acting angry to hide his distress. "What's wrong is I would never do such a thing," he said. "Why would I give a Cruxis Crystal to some brat?" He waved his arm emphatically. "And where is he now, if he's so important to me? Where is he?"

"…Meltokio, I believe," Kratos said.

"Take me to him," Yuan said, trying to shove Kratos out of the way again. He paused, his entire demeanor suddenly changing. "No," he said, his blue eyes bright with emotion. "Take me to the Tree."

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

A section of the perimeter crashed to the ground and Alex stepped over the rubble, one hand awash with the distinct glow of magic being used. Harley sprang to his feet and ran out of his tent, instantly awake as he dodged flying stones. He shifted into a fighting position, his rigid stance not reassured when he saw Alex walking towards him with a shadow over his eyes and the glow in his hand intensifying.

"What the heck, Alex?" Harley demanded, readying a spell of his own. He looked around the camp, seeing Mesha struggling to her feet, the canvas of her tent tangling her limbs up. A sudden lack of the familiar sight of silver and orange filled him with an immediate, unexplainable dread. "Where's Raine?" he said.

"You'll see her soon," Alex said, rushing forward and stooping low, dodging a wild punch from Harley and reaching up, grabbing his face with one glowing hand. His thumb and pinky finger rested on either of his cheeks, index and ring boring holes into his temples and finally his middle finger was squarely pressed into the exact center of Harley's forehead. From the spaces between his fingers he could see Harley's brown eyes widen as they locked gazes.

"**Fall**," Alex said, and Harley's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed in a heap onto the ground, utterly still.

"_No!!"_

Alex jerked to the side as a razor sharp icicle whizzed by his head, snipping off a few strands of his graying hair. Mesha stood all the way on the other side of the camp, tears streaming down her face. "What did you do to him?" she said, her voice wavering with fear. She lifted one hand, pulling boulders out of the earth and making the ground blaze with arcane symbols. "What did you do, you- you- you _human_! **Ram**!" The earth surged up, flowing towards Alex in a distinct, goat-like shape. The human had no hope of avoiding it, managing only to pull up a meager guardian spell in the last second before the spell hit, sending him and his protective bubble crashing back into what was left of the perimeter. Mesha bent down, swiping up Raine's staff as she ran to Harley, frantically checking for a pulse or any sign that he was still alive.

The last thing she felt was someone yanking her head back by her long green hair, and a large hand smothering her mouth.

There was a sharp pain in the center of her forehead.

"**Fall**," Alex said, and she fell.

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

**A/N:** Neener neener nee-ner! **:P**

Oh dear. Well, I warned you there would be incest. Next Chapter: "Paper Wings." See you then… and Review!


	14. Paper Wings

**A/N:** Continuity errors: Regal says his room is on the floor above Sheena's but he gets off the elevator first.

Fun Fact: I based Alex's Wind Whip, Fire Whip etc spells on Indiana Jones's ever-present handy-dandy whip.

Fun Fact #2: In the original outline for this series, Pandora's name was going to be "Maxine", and in fact I actually had a minor character mention a Maxine. I later went back and edited it to say "Pandora." Chapter thirteen of RUNAWAY is the first instance of anyone (namely, Zelos) calling Pandora "Pip".

Fun Fact #3: I consider Kloitz to be a bit like Dracula- he's the major villain in the story but he only ever appears four or five times in all the chapters of RUNAWAY and PARTNERS.

Fun Fact #5: Mizuho things are now Mizanese. You know, like Japanese, only not.

Alex- "Fabricated Background" composed by Yasushi Ishii.

Ken- "Resolution" by Motion City Soundtrack.

**Too many years fighting back tears- Why can't the past just die?**

Enjoy

**OoOoOoOoOo**

There was a flurry of gossamer wings and the angel took to the skies. Sheena stood on the earth, taking a few steps back to look up at the nameless figure rising into the heavens, feeling her dread grow with every second they were apart. She fought the panic threatening to bubble to the surface, looking around her as if there might be a staircase handy to let her follow the winged figure.

"-----,wait! Wait for me!" she said, waving one arm glowing with mana. Using Gnome to nullify the gravity around her and the Sylph's winds to guide her, she leapt into the air and raced after them. She was clumsy at first since this was the first time she had attempted such a thing, spinning head over heels through the air until her natural ninja instincts kicked in and she adapted to the new motion. After a few more somersaults she gained control, picking up speed as she ordered the Sylph to put more power into the winds at her back. The angel in the distance seemed small and delicate, wings shining white in the moonlight. When Sheena was finally close enough to grab them, they shrank back out of reach and turned around to smile at her from behind a face awash with blood. The wind blew from behind the figure, whipping flecks of blood onto Sheena's face and bringing with it the scent of death.

_Strawberries,_ she thought dizzily, her ascent slowly halting as she felt the wind pressure drop and gravity take hold. With agonizing slowness, she began to tilt back until she was hurtling through the sky headfirst like a falling star, drops of blood falling like rain all around her.

With a jolt of fear Sheena saw the blood was on her hands as well. It was everywhere, on everything, drowning out the light of the moon. Suddenly she was on the ground again, kneeling in a pool of blood, watching it spread to cover the white marble floors and seeping in through the cracks, filling in the void. Because that's what red was, Sheena realized as the bile boiled up in her throat. Red was white in disguise, because White was only ever one step away from being any other color at all. Because when the blood spills, the snow dies.

The blood sizzled and popped like acid, burning a hole through the floor where she was sitting, unable to move away from the inevitable until she began to fall again, further and deeper into the abyss. The moon was only a silver coin now, the figure a black speck. She was picking up speed again, hurtling towards the ground with the moon and the winged figure receding from vision until the trees reached up and the ground yawned open in a cavern to suck her in and SPLAT! She hit the ground.

Sheena jerked awake to find her vision filled with red.

She lashed out in fear with her bare hands, losing her balance and falling onto the floor where her ninja training kicked in and she leapt to her feet, her cards out and ready as she found a wall to stand against to keep her back covered.

"Ow," Zelos said, rubbing his head as stretched in the couch they had been sharing. They had been taking turns watching over Matias. Sheena had set up a protective, invisible shield in the area around the bed where the pseudo-angel was currently huddled up into a ball, fast asleep. She must have also fallen asleep with her head resting on Zelos's shoulder and woken up to see his flaming red hair.

Sheena put a hand to her forehead to try and stave off a sudden headache only to realize her hand was aching as well. She looked down at it to see her grandmother's charm glowing faintly and cursed under her breath. She clenched her fist, waiting for the pain to subside while being painfully aware of the sunlight streaming through the open window. She cursed loudly, and then cursed again because she broke her self-made promise not to curse so much. "What time is it?" she asked when her impressive display of language was over with and Zelos was left with a slightly shocked look on his face. Zelos shrugged, and she growled and turned to go downstairs.

She walked out of the room. "I'm late, damn it!" she said, slamming her fist against the button to open the elevator doors. She bruised her knuckles and swore again, kissing at her hand. "Damn it!" She kicked the door once before pausing, hopping around on one foot with the other cradled in her hands. "_Shit_!"

"Err… Is there a problem, darling?" Zelos asked, standing up and hooking his thumbs in his belt, leaning back to examine her from a safe distance.

"I was supposed to leave this morning," Sheena said, tapping the elevator button over and over with increasing annoyance. "I was supposed to head out to Izoold. But then _this_-" she waved at Matias, "-happened, and I completely forgot. So I have to leave now or it might be too late to catch up with Kuchinawa."

Zelos's face lit up at that. "Excellent! Our shift was almost over anyway!" He moved up to her and linked his arm with hers, pressing the button for the elevator doors to open. They did so with a friendly chime, and Sheena cursed under her breath again. Ignoring the steady throb in her hand, head, and foot, she wriggled free from him. She stood in the elevator and barred the way with her arms.

"You're not coming," she said. "I need you here to watch over Matias. And… I need to be alone…" she said the last part softly, her words trailing off as the hypnotic glow of her own charm caught her eye. She shook her head. "I work better on my own anyway."

He frowned. "If what I hear from Pandora is true, the last thing you need is to be alone." He cupped her dangling charm in one hand, watching the stone glitter in the hallway light. "Besides, you need to get over yourself. And how can you do that without me?"

"Wh-what?"

"That's right," he said, putting his hands on his hips in a disapproving gesture. "For the past eight months you and Raine both have put us all through hell, both of you pushing away the other and everyone else who cares about you to boot. You've been neglecting your friends… Have you ever stopped to consider someone other than yourself?"

"Like you're one to talk!" she shot back, her face heating up. "You've been a slacker your whole life and you know it."

"I've been changing," he said, thrusting out his lower lip in a pout. "I have my own business now."

"Don't give me that look!" Sheena said, her temper flaring. Zelos immediately stopped pouting. "I do nothing else but put others before myself! It's my _life_, for Martel's sake. I'm the Chief of Mizuho now, and I have more than my own well-being to consider now. I have responsibilities, and part of those responsibilities is producing a living heir." She stepped forward, jabbing him in the chest. "So do not even _go_ there, Zelos."

Zelos was unimpressed. "Yeah, but we're not talking about me. We're talking about how you've been acting like a lovesick teenager. And it's not just me!" he added quickly when she moved forward with a raised fist. He put up his hands, palms out, and took a few steps back. "Everyone agrees that you two need to get back together or get over it. So do you love Raine or do you not? I think once you find the answer to that question, a lot of your problems will find their answers as well."

Sheena snorted, pushing the button to close the doors. "This isn't the time for your matchmaking games, Zelos. I need to go do my job."

She hoped that would be the end of it and turned around to look out the glass elevator at the sparkling blue depths of the Altamira Ocean. But before she had time to react, Zelos slipped through the doors as they were closing and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head. She stiffened, expecting him to try and cop a feel like he always did.

"Why won't you marry me?" he asked. Sheena could see his expression reflected in the glass- dead-pan. Sensing that this time wasn't like all the others, she slowly relaxed in his embrace and tried to copy his emotionless façade.

"'Cause you're already engaged," she said. This was a conversation they had already had many times before. "'Cause I don't like you that way. 'Cause _I'm_ already engaged. Cause grandpa wouldn't have approved of me marrying a foreigner. 'Because you're a pervert-"

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"If you act like a pervert, talk like a pervert, and think like a pervert, you're not a duck." She put her hands on his arms, gently trying to get loose again but he was adamant on not letting go.

"You don't know how I think," he said, affronted. "I really do want to marry you. It could be fun, Sheena! You're the only girl for me, seriously." he changed his tone abruptly, rocking from side to side with her still in his arms. "And don't say you don't like me that way. That's a lie. You _are_ attracted to me- everyone is, regardless of gender or sexual orientation."

"It must be your overwhelming modesty," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"No," he said, "It's my Cruxis Crystal."

Sheena was silent for a moment before turned in his arms, putting her hands against his chest and pushing him away so she could look up into his eyes. "….What."

He grinned. "I found out about it a little bit after the World Reunification Journey."

Sheena pushed him farther away from her, clenching her fists tightly over the fabric of his shirt. "_What_?!" she said again, sharper.

"It produces pheromones," Zelos explained, chattering as if he didn't notice the growing tension in the elevator. "Obviously I didn't know before the Journey 'because I always left my Crystal in Seles's care."

"What the heck are _pheromones_?" Sheena asked her voice unusually shrill.

Zelos took a moment to have a moment of thoughtful, silent contemplation. He sighed, putting a hand to his chin as he gazed out of the glass elevator doors. "In laymen's terms…" he said, struggling to think of a simple way to put it. Then his face brightened and he snapped his fingers, smiling cheerfully. "Ah! In laymen's terms: I smell sexy."

The elevator doors opened with a ping on the lobby floor. Regal Bryant was there with Presea, discussing the possibilities of hiring guards to monitor Matias- assuming normal guards would be enough to restrain him if he decided to escape. Personally, Regal felt a moral obligation to handle the situation himself, and said as much to Presea.

Presea had a simpler option: "We could kill him," the girl said, sitting on the concierge's desk with her short legs dangling in the air. She was wearing an Altamira uniform, but one tailored for a boy much bigger than she. Her pink hair was once again piled up under a bright red cap, and huge sunglasses covered most of her upper face like giant insect eyes.

Regal frowned.

"I'm not saying that because he's Rodyle's son," she said. _I'm saying it because it would annoy you. _"The sins of the father don't carry on to the son, and by the look of him he's had his fair share of torture." Presea absent-mindedly stroked the Ex-sphere she replaced her Cruxis Crystal with, feeling the smooth, hard bump under her shirt. "I suppose it was only luck that made me more suitable for the Angelus Project than whatever experiments were preformed on Matias. Or hey- maybe he volunteered for them." She shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that he snuck up on me while I was sleeping and tried to kill me. Regardless of whom his father is, that makes him an enemy in my eyes."

Regal had to give her that, even if doubt nagged at his mind. His frown deepened and he ran a hand through his electric blue hair, trying to think clearly. "We still don't know his motives," he said. "He might not have been trying to kill you."

"Oh no," she said, smiling. "He was just trying to abduct me and that's much better, is that what you're saying, Mr. Bryant?"

"Presea…" he said, "Stop."

"Sorry, Regal."

"No, you're not," he said, wishing the day would end even though it was just starting.

She grinned, "You're right," she said, "I'm not."

That's when the elevator doors opened to reveal Sheena in the process of choking Zelos to death with her bare hands. "You mean to tell me that this entire time it's been nothing but a stupid chemical reaction?" she yelled, her face bright red.

"Wahh! Don't kill me!" Zelos wailed, pounding his fist on the floor in surrender.

"You- you stupid! You Idiot Chosen!"

"Ex-Chosen," Presea corrected under her breath, not willing to say it to Sheena's face. "Oh, boy."

Regal looked down at her with interest. "Do you happen to know what they're arguing about?" he asked, but before she could answer Zelos barreled into him, hiding behind the taller man with a pitiful whimper.

"Regal! Friend!" he said, "Protect me from the banshee!"

The elevator pinged again and Genis and Pandora stepped out, standing a good three feet away from each other as they surveyed the most current chaos in their life. They exchanged a glance and then sneaked their way to the front door, deciding that it would be useless to ask questions anyway.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

"Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, _whoop_!" Genis yelped, crashing into the crystal clear Altamira waters. Pandora had disappointed Genis by buying a one-piece swimsuit at the hotel instead of the bikinis on display, but it was still a pleasure to see so much of her exposed. Genis didn't mind that she had a lot of scars from years of sword practice- in fact, he thought they made her even more beautiful. She waded in after him, letting her hands trail through the water as she admired the view, smiling softly. Genis decided she was acting far too dignified for a proper teenager at the beach and hefted her up, tossing her protesting into deeper waters.

Pandora surfaced with a splash, angrily striding towards the beach. "I'm not going any deeper than that rock," Pandora said to him as she passed him, pointing to her left at a spire jutting out of the water. "The ocean is different from swimming pools and bathtubs, so stop horsing arou- _ow- wow-!_ Put me _down_, Genis!"

"Give me a few good reasons why," he prompted, looking down at her with all the innocence of a fox.

"Undertow, among other things," she said stiffly, holding onto him with her arms around his neck. "If you toss me in too far I might get sucked in."

The half-elf rolled his eyes towards heaven, looking for guidance from above. "Now you sound like my sister. Do you have a form of hydrophobia you never told me about?"

Pandora fixed him with a frosty stare. "I'm a poor swimmer," she said. "I don't get out of Meltokio often."

"Really?" he blinked, loosening his grasp on her a bit.

"Really."

_Whap-pow!_

"Owww!" Genis complained, doubling over and pressing both hands to his throbbing skull. Pandora waded closer to the shore, not sparing him a second glance. "Now you're _really_ acting like my sister! Get back here!" he straightened out, making a large sweeping gesture with both of his hands. The water around him suddenly turned alive, rearing up and crashing around Pandora to drag her back. Genis snatched her up again, this time not being as gentle as he held her in a way that prevented movement. It was a trick Yuan had taught him when fighting a smaller opponent.

"Uh-oh, Pandora," he said, grinning wickedly. "Looks like things are a little different when I'm wearing my Ex-spheres."

"Cheater," was all Pandora said, struggling against the suddenly iron-strong grip. After a moment though, she gave up, glaring spitefully at the jewels embedded on the backs of Genis's hands. "Where can I get one of those?"

"You have to ask Lloyd very politely," Genis said, releasing her and depositing her safely on the ground, his hands on her hips. Pandora smiled at that, standing up on the tips of her toes and reaching around his neck. Expecting a kiss, Genis closed his eyes with a fluttering heart only to feel cold, gentle fingers pulling his goggles off.

Pandora pulled the goggles down her own head, grinning. "I'm not hydrophobic," she said, grabbing at his hand and pulling him deeper into the water. "Let's go see what we can see."

**OoOoOoOo**

"Oh yes, of course I want to take a break from my normal job to watch over this freak," Presea said, still in her Altamira uniform. For the past few weeks she had been working among the employees at various jobs, always in disguise, to give Regal a better idea of who was worth keeping or firing, and to check if there were any ill feelings stirring up among the workers. More than once, even though he clearly benefited from using Presea like this, Regal had demanded that she stop and get a less labor-intensive job the park or stop working altogether and go to the academy in Neo. She told him to stuff it.

Regal tapped a pen against his gold watch. "Zelos and Sheena already left for Izoold. In two hours, either Pandora or Genis can take over, and then I-"

"Of course, of course," Presea said, cutting him off. She was already tired with this conversation though it had just started, and felt no need to argue it further. "I hear you, Regal. I'll get to it."

Regal bit his lip, suddenly finding the need to straighten his tie as he cleared his throat. "I don't mind doing two shifts, on second thought. And I need to have a word with the boy."

Presea raised one pink eyebrow.

"I just don't want you to feel pressured," Regal said.

Presea cocked her head to the side in her trademark curious puppy way. "How come?"

The former convict could think of several reasons- because he was her legal guardian, because he was her friend, because in a better world he would have been her brother-in-law. "Because it's my duty to protect you," he ended up saying.

The girl smiled. "I can protect myself," she said, stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the fourth floor.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

The last person they expected to see in Izoold was Yuan. Sheena spotted him first, waving at him wildly. He paused to look at her, his face uncomprehending, before turning towards the dock and leaving her behind. She blinked, taken aback at his lack of response, and looked to Zelos for guidance.

"That was Yuan, right?" she asked.

"His hair's different, but no one else has that armor and swooshy cape," he answered, nodding his head with authority. "C'mon, let's follow him!" He pulled at Sheena's sleeve, dragging her along behind him as he chased after the seraph.

"Yuan! Oh YUUUUUAAAAN!" he called out, ignoring Sheena as she tried to escape him to go find her contact and dodging frightened pedestrians. "Yuan Yggdrasil! _Hey_!"

Yuan turned around at the mention of his full name, pulling his cape across his frame to hide his right hand as he stared warily at the two of them. His fingers inched towards where his sword should be, though right now his hip was bare. Sheena felt the beginnings of something very wrong and managed to pull back, but Zelos was adamant. He marched up to the seraph.

"Yeah, you!" Zelos said. "Pah! The Homo Seraphim thinks he's too cool to acknowledge me, huh?" He put his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently. "Plus, you never write and you never visit! You should be _ashamed_!" Turning away, he sobbed dramatically and put one hand to his eyes.

Yuan looked over his shoulder, as if hoping there was another Yuan Yggdrasil standing right behind him and that was who Zelos was addressing. Then he sighed. "I'm…very sorry?" he ventured.

Zelos paused. Of all the answers he had been expecting, that was not one of them. He quickly got over his shock, though, and snorted. "You will be," he said, pulling Yuan close. "Here- for all the indignities I've suffered, I demand a kiss."

Yuan's eyebrows shot up. Then he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, fine. On the lips?" he asked, not sounding as if he relished the idea.

Zelos paused again. This was going in a strange new direction, though it wasn't an entirely unwelcome one. "Well… sure…" he said at last, his lips twisting into a bemused smile. "Whatever works for you, hunny." And so saying, he tilted Yuan's head up a bit and kissed him, surprised to feel that Yuan's lips were very soft. It contrasted pleasantly from the rough fabric of the thick gloves he was wearing.

Sheena's eyes bugged out and she made a half-strangled noise in the back of her throat.

Yuan jerked his head back after a moment or so, turning his face away with an exasperated sigh. "Hold up now," he said, lifting his gloved right hand and pushing a protesting Zelos back a few paces. "I thought _I_ was supposed to kiss _you_? If you go around demanding kisses, I think you should at least let them initiate the kiss."

"Well geez, you're pretty picky for someone just out of the closet!" Zelos said, leaning forward to try and steal another kiss. Yuan stepped back, annoyed and adjusting the buttons on his gloves. "Um, I mean…." Zelos scratched his forehead in confusion before arriving at a solution. "Ah! I mean, that one was just for practice. Let's kiss for real now!"

"What the hell, Zelos?" Sheena squeaked, breaking into the odd conversation with her hands clapped firmly over her mouth. Her eyes were still wider than usual.

Yuan looked from Zelos to Sheena and decided that Zelos was the redhead's name, not a nickname that had somehow sprouted for Yuan. As if just noticing her, he smiled charmingly. "Do we know this woman, Zelos?" he asked Zelos, reclining with one elbow propped on the redhead's shoulder.

"Very funny, Yuan…" Sheena managed to mutter, even though she still wouldn't tear her sight away from the two rival seraphs practically fondling each other in the middle of the street.

Even though Sheena didn't know it, Yuan found this all very amusing indeed.

"Yes, this was all very fun but I have a boat to catch," he said, letting go of Zelos and wiping at his mouth with the back of his glove.

Sheena shook her head. "Going back to Crazy-Land?"

"And without me?!" Zelos asked, suddenly very interested in where and when the seraph would be in the next 24 hours. He latched onto Yuan's arm, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm going to see the Great Tree, not that it's any of your business," Yuan replied in a pleasant tone of voice, trying in vain to shake Zelos off of his arm. "What's your name again?"

"_Sheena_!" a voice unintentionally answered for him.

Sheena looked up in time only to register a blur of blond hair before she was tackled to the ground, not for the first time and not for the last. "Argh!" Sheena wriggled in Colette's iron grip as the tiny angel squeezed her hard enough to make her pop like a rotten fruit. "Heh… Heh… H-hello, Colette…" she wheezed, trying not to hurt the younger girl's feelings by seeming wounded by her crushing embrace.

Awkwardly patting Colette on the back, she finally managed to break free when Lloyd and Kratos soon arrived on the scene as well. Gulping down as much air as her bruised lungs could manage, she gave a half-hearted wave in their general direction. "Hey," she said. "Where are the dogs?"

"We had to leave them outside Meltokio," Lloyd said, because Kratos was preoccupied with something else.

He rounded up on Yuan, glaring down at him. "What in the name of Mana made you run off like that?"

Yuan waved his gloved hand expansively at his squalid surroundings. Izoold was still only a small fishing town, since the World Regeneration Journey had left it partly trapped by new mountains. "Well, whatever gave you the impression I was trying to avoid being in your jocund company?" he shot back. "You were flying too slowly. I sped up. That's all there was to it." Closing his eyes, he shrugged. "Besides, where would I go?"

"I don't know. To find Yggdrasil, perhaps."

"But if what you say is true, I wouldn't find him. And then I would eventually figure out you were telling the truth on my own and would have come back to you." He smirked. "_If_ what you're saying is true. And if" –he glanced at a pocket watch he produced from somewhere under his cape- "We don't miss our boat."

**OoOoOoOo**

Presea opened the door to find Matias pacing along the barriers of the magical bubble Sheena had entrapped him in. Arcane Mizanese symbols were etched into the floor in the area around his bed, and though Presea couldn't notice any difference in the room they seemed to work well enough to keep Matias in one place.

The half-elf noticed her staring at him, rattled his scaly wings once in annoyance, and sat down on the edge of his bed. He met her even gaze from behind blood-red lenses; he looked ready to go play a game of poker by the way his face was covered up. Smiling without humor, Presea moved up to the invisible barrier and pressed a hand against it. The pressure sent small ripples dancing across the bubble-like surface.

"So," Presea said, pulling her hand back when the ripples began to make her dizzy, "You're Rodyle's son, huh?"

Matias shrugged helplessly, causing his wings to rattle again. Grabbing a fistful of his purple hair and shaking it at her, he raised one eyebrow as if to say, 'What do _you_ think?' Sighing once, he curled up on his small bed, his back facing her.

Presea took the time to examine him properly. His tattered, baggy clothes didn't do much to hide the way his flesh stretched over his bones, and the bandages she could see wrapped around his chest were dirty and frayed. He still had other wounds that no one had treated, including the one in his side from where Presea had stabbed him.

"You know Sheena made the spell big enough for you to go to the bathroom," she said after a moment. The mute flexed his wings, the sharp bat hooks at the joints gleaming in the sunlight. "You can clean yourself up. Each bathroom in this hotel has a first aid kit you can use, too."

Matias didn't respond at first, still curled up miserably on the bed. But eventually he reached inside his sleeves and pulled out a notepad and a stubby pencil, scribbling something and then tossing the notepad over to her side of the room. Despite herself she tried to reach for it, and was surprised when after a few seconds of stretching the barrier let her through. She quickly withdrew her hand, shaking it and flexing the fingers to try and suppress the tingles she felt racing up and down along her arm. When she felt better, Presea bent down, looking through the distorting bubble-barrier to squint at the chicken-scratch handwriting. She didn't dare try to play with the barrier any more.

_whats going to happen to me are you going to kill me_

Presea shook her head before remembering he wasn't looking at her. "I can't answer that," she said. "This is something between you and Sheena. It doesn't affect me either way, so I don't have a say in what happens to you. But-" she stopped, startled as Matias leapt to his feet and partially glided over to the barrier to tower over her. She couldn't read his expression without seeing his eyes or his mouth, so she didn't know if she was scaring him or making him angry with her words.

He pulled at a strand of his hair for a moment before bending down and picking up his notepad, taking the time to use proper punctuation this time. _Aren't you Presea?_ He asked her. He squatted, hunched over with his arms resting on his knees so that they were almost at eye level, and took off his glasses. She nodded, waiting for him to finish writing the next note. _So that gives you reason to kill me._

She punched out at the wall, a dagger seeming to materialize in her hand. There was a few seconds of resistance before the wall allowed her hand to sink through, slicing through a few strands of purple hair. He jumped away like a pack of frightened birds, the scales intermingled with his black feathers clacking audibly.

"You know, it sounds like you want to die," Presea said, yanking her hand back through the barrier with a sick _sloooopsh_ sound. She flexed her fingers, balling her hand into a fist and then relaxing it. The knife was gone again. "But your body reacts to danger, so what are you and I supposed to believe in this situation? Your animal instinct or your higher mind?"

Matias put a hand to his chest, apparently to check if his blood-caked bandages were still holding. He turned away from her, running thin pale fingers over his wounds. "You need some help with those?" she asked. He shook his head, tightening the bandages around his chest even though they seemed "Well, you look like someone tossed you through heavy machinery. Go clean yourself up so you can appear a little less pathetic when Sheena comes around."

Matias's pencil tip hovered over the paper for a moment before he scribbled again. He pressed the paper against the wall, but unlike Presea his hand didn't go through. _Can a prisoner get some privacy around here?_

Presea grinned, reaching through the wall to snatch his writing materials out of his hands. Matias jerked back, expecting her to try and hit him again, but all she did was write him a note of her own. _There's a lock on the bathroom door, doofus._

His hands worried at the frayed ends of his scarf, his purple eyes flickering from Presea to the notepad. The pseudo angel made an attempt to take the notepad back from the girl before he lost his nerve. Instead, he sank down to one knee with one hand over his heart and his head bowed. It triggered an unpleasant sense of déjà vu in Presea, made all the more eerie because she knew that something like this must have happened in her previous life, and must have been important. After his display of thanks was over he rose up to his full height and stalked over to the bathroom, closing it behind him. The loudest noise he made was the rattling of the scales on his patchwork wings, and the soft click of the lock sliding in place.

**OoOoOoOo**

**A/N**: Matias is emo.

Yeah, that's all I really have to say. 5,468 words.


	15. The Happy Ending You Asked For

**A/N:** For more on banana hammocks, check out "A Random Love Story" by Brandy Mallory.

Please, please, _please_ don't kill me.

**OoOoOoOo**

Sheena Fujibayashi snuck into the temple in a sneaking sort of way, darting from shadow to shadow with all the elegance and seductiveness of a true shinobi. The ninja chuckled to herself, softly talking under her breath to another presence that none could see save her.

"This plan is so cunning," she said, downing a few guards and tossing a smoke grenade here and there for good measure, "That if you put a tail on it you could call it a weasel!"

"Only _you_ could have thought of it, mistress!" agreed a small voice inside her pocket. An amorphous, watery blob slithered out of her clothes to rest on her shoulder. There was a small flash of blue light and the blob turned into Celsius- a tiny, adorable Celsius with a high-pitched voice. For some reason, her eyes were disproportionately large, taking up almost two thirds of her face, but this didn't seem to affect her hand-eye coordination or depth perception at all.

"Of course I did," Sheena said smugly, using her finely toned ninja skills to disable various traps and nuisances that would have bothered anyone less awesome than she. Finally, though the way was long and boring, she arrived at the altar that stored her heart's desire-

The Eternal Sword!

Her eyes shone with triumph and yearning, her entire body quivering as she took a few faltering steps towards the artifact that would bring prestige to Mizuho for generations to come. With sweaty palms and a fluttering heart, she reached for the hilt of the sword….

**Wha-_pshh_**!

Sheena darted back, whipping out her cards as she narrowly avoided having her china-doll face slashed wide open by the busy end of a long black whip. Laughing maniacally, a slim, curvaceous figure hidden by shadows snatched the Eternal Sword from its resting place and put it inside the multi-dimensional pockets she had inside her leather jacket. Tilting her dusty, travel-worn fedora over her silver hair in a mock-filled greeting, she grinned at the would-be thief.

Sheena clenched her hand into a fist, shaking it at the figure. "I should have known it was you…"

The figure hopped into the light, shifting into a fighting position as she readied her whip. Chibi-Celsius shrieked in fright, spontaneously shifting into her fully-grown form so that she could cling to Sheena's arm suggestively.

"I should have known it was…. _Indiana Sage_!!!" Sheena hissed, putting one protective arm around Celsius's waist.

"Come now, dear," Indy said, flicking her whip experimentally to the side and finding a malicious pleasure in the way the loud _crack!_ made Celsius wince, "You've known me for so long, there's no need to call me by my full name."

"Damn you Sage, you've crossed us for the last time!" Sheena said, moving her fingers in a complex jutsu while somewhere in the world, a nine-tailed fox sneezed violently. Five Sheenas, all equally pissed-off, charged at Indiana Sage. The half-elf archaeologist scoffed in their faces, tossing her whip aside and pulling out two spinning revolvers. Leaping into the air, she somersaulted over their surprised heads and landed in a crouch, shooting over her shoulders at each and every one of the Sheenas. Every bullet found a home in their foreheads, causing them to shriek once in pain before dissipating in a puff of blue smoke.

"But wait!" Indy said, her pale face paling further. "If all five Sheenas were fake, then where's the _real_-"

Raine cried out in surprise as she was tackled to the floor, landing in a convenient mud puddle. Her revolvers wrested from her grip as easily as Kloitz sneaks up on unsuspecting baby carriages to place uranium pellets in the blanket folds, and she could hear Sheena cackling in triumph. Struggling wildly against the ninja's iron grip, she cursed as she felt nimble fingers slip into her leather jacket and remove the Eternal Sword from the multi-dimensional pocket. Needless to say this was all very messy business due to the mud puddle, and noisy with the sounds of a fierce wrestling match that I can't be bothered to describe because there are more pressing issues at hand- like the arrival of a hapless security guard that Sheena hadn't knocked unconscious in her quest for the Sword.

Zelos the security guard watched in amusement for a few moments, wondering whether or not it was worth it to attempt to stop the fight. Deciding he wasn't paid enough to do that, he sat back and enjoyed the show while making eyes at Celsius. And why wasn't the Summon Spirit helping her master? Well that was probably because she was too busy shoving her fist into her mouth to keep from falling into a fit of insane giggles. Kinda like how you're doing right now.

"Just give it up, Sage!" Sheena said, holding the half-elf in a classic wrestling move- the stranglehold.

"No, I can't!" Indy said, panic-stricken. "I'm saving it for marriage!"

Sheena blinked, relaxing her grip on the other woman in confusion. "Huh?"

"…Um… I mean… _Kyah_!" Indy twisted around and head-butted the ninja, snatching the sword back and trying to make a run for it.

"Cel!" Sheena cried desperately to the Summon Spirit, who was still standing idly by. "_Do_ something, for Christ's sake!"

"Jeez, whatta slave driver," Celsius muttered, waving her hand in Indy's general direction. A clear sheet of ice appeared under her feet and she went crashing to the floor in all her archeological glory, her grip on the Eternal Sword slipping. The artifact went skidding across the ice only to come to a rest…

…right at Zelos's feet.

"I got it!" Sheena and Indy called at the same time, diving for the priceless item only to crash headfirst into Zelos and land in a groaning heap on the floor, each with one hand on the hilt of the sword. Quickly coming to their senses, the two women leapt to their feet and shoved the security guard to the side, clenching at the sword as they squared off, forehead-to-forehead and glaring at each other straight in the eyes.

Indy put her free hand just above Sheena's on the sword hilt, growling deep in her throat. In response, Sheena used _her_ free hand to grip at the sword hilt just above Indy's. Indy pulled her lower hand free and, careful not to cut herself on the blade, put that hand above Sheena's. This went on for a while until there was no more space left on the blade and they were left actually holding _each other's_ hands instead of any part of the sword.

"Damn it, this is going no where!" Sheena said, tugging the sword closer to her.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Indy asked, yanking the sword in her direction.

"To let go of the damn sword, RAINE Sage!" Sheena retorted.

"Maybe if you asked _politely_ and stopping swearing all the time!" Indy- or Raine, or whatever you want to call her, said. "And you know I hate being called by my middle name!"

"And why would I ever _ask_ a half-elf bitch for anything?"

Raine's (or Indy's) mouth dropped open. "Half…. Ha! That's rich, coming from a human whore!"

"Ruin Freak!" Sheena twisted around, trying to drag the sword away.

Indy (or Raine) dug her heels into the ground, saying between gritted teeth: "Klepto!"

Zelos smiled, standing up and pointing at them both. "PMSing!" he said brightly.

"_No one asked you_!" they shouted, turning towards him. Suddenly, the tip of the Eternal Sword began to glow intense white light, starting to shudder and make funny popping noises. Before anyone could react, the white light exploded outwards right into Zelos's solar plexus, sending him flying across the room to smack right into the wall and slowly slide down to collapse face-first onto the floor.

Celsius's clapped her hands to her mouth, staring at the still form of the security guard with wide eyes. "Oh, my God! You _killed_ him!"

Zelos lifted one hand, waving it in the air. "Actually, I think I'm-"

Celsius waved one hand in his direction with the other still clamped firmly over her mouth. An icicle the size of Regal fell from the sky and landed squarely in the middle of Zelos's back with such force that the blood that spurted forth managed to drench everyone in the room. Zelos's hand fell limp.

**OoOoOoOo**

"In celebration of this half-way reunion, I'd like to propose a toast!" Lloyd shouted to the various heroes gathered in Dirk's house, holding up a glass of hooch in one hand. There was a general agreement in the room and much banging of fists on the table, except from Colette who had Presea sitting in her lap so that she could better braid the younger girl's hair, and Yuan, who had Genis sitting on his lap so that he could better nibble at his ears and neck.

"I would just like to say," Lloyd continued, "That you guys are all awesome to have come here on such short notice, and I suggest we make this toast to FRIENDSHIP!"

"HEAR HEAR!" the crowd agreed, and lo, there was much guzzlement of fermented materials and all was good.

Except for Colette.

When all was said and done, she nervously sat up and put Presea aside, clearing her throat to get the room's attention. The room was very attentive, but the guests were not so eventually she was forced to scream at the top of her lungs:

"I'M PREGNANT!"

The hubbub in the room died at once and a hushed silence fell across the room.

Colette turned pale. "Uhm, can everyone except Lloyd please forget I said that?"

"Ye mean to say me boy's got his wife all a belly-full?" Dirk said through a face awash with proud tears.

Everyone turned to Lloyd with one eyebrow raised, so he sighed and translated. "He means to ask if I'm going to be a Daddy," he said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh," was the general consensus. Yuan added, "So Lloyd and Colette are going to have a baby? Great!"

"Uh…" Colette mumbled, beginning to feel tears of shame prick at her eyes. "It might not be Lloyd's."

"Huh?" Kratos blinked. "But if it isn't Lloyd, then whose baby is it?"

"I don't know!" Colette said tearfully, rubbing at her face with her sleeve. "I'm such a slut it could be anyone."

Genis and Presea turned the color of old mushrooms and quickly excused themselves from the table, muttering something about forgetting a pie in the oven. When they were outside and out of hearing range, they turned to each other and spoke in hushed, frightened whispers:

"Did you hear that?" Genis whispered, his Adam's apple bobbling nervously. "It could be _anyone_."

"You don't think you're the one, do you?" Presea asked him, pulling at her pink ponytails in agitation.

"No way," he said, shaking his head. After a moment of consideration, his eyebrows shot up and he drew closer to her. "You don't think _you_…?"

Presea gasped. "What? Of course not!" she said, turning away in a huff. "I mean… I don't _think_ it's me…" she relented.

"What the hell, Presea?!" he shouted, grabbing the small girl and shaking her. "Didn't you think to use protection?"

"I was in the heat of the moment, dammit!" She slapped his hands away and he squealed in pain, shrinking back and nursing the injured appendages. Don't get angry with me because I can get a girl pregnant and you can't!"

He stepped back, his grey-blue eyes widening with hurt. "That was low," he said, sniffling. Feeling her heart twinge with guilt, Presea stepped forward and hugged him tightly, patting his back to soothe his bruised ego.

"I'm sorry baby," she said. "You know I didn't mean it. Let me hold you like your boyfriend does!"

There was a sharp gasp from the doorway. Presea and Genis broke apart like startled rabbits, sheepishly turning to see who had interrupted them. Yuan stood there, his eyes welling up with unshed tears as he saw his boytoy in the arms of another lover. He shook his head in disbelief, turning away with one hand to his heart.

"Yuan!" Genis said, walking towards him with his arms open wide. "Yuan, it isn't what it looks like!"

"I thought we were exclusive!" Yuan snapped through his tears, slapping Genis's hands away. "You… I thought we had something special! I thought it was more than just the bloodletting!" the vampire sobbed openly, his long fangs glinting in the moonlight.

Genis, losing his temper, lashed out at his lover. "Well it isn't as if you don't run around either!" he accused. Unbeknownst to them, a crowd had gathered in the doorway with popcorn in hand to watch the drama unfold. "I see how you act when that security guard comes around!"

Yuan stiffened. "Zelos guards my coffin," he said, glaring at the taller man.

"Suuuure._ I_ know what he guards," Genis sneered. "And since when were you on a first name basis with him?" He slapped Yuan tartly across the face.

"Oh, is that the way you wanna play?" Yuan snarled, tackling him to the ground and plunging his teeth deep into the half-elf's neck. Genis, caught between the urge to shriek with pain and moan with pleasure, decided that whimpering pathetically was a good middle ground.

"Oh… Oh… uhn…" Genis writhed under Yuan, reaching out at Presea with one hand. "D- ah, ah, _ah_! Don't just suh… suhmmn…. UH… st-stand there! Help me! OOOHHHH YUAN!" he closed his eyes, arching back and grabbing a big fistful of Yuan's silver hair. "OOHHHH MYSTERY OF LIFE, I'VE FOUND YOU AT LAST...!"

"I dunno, you seem to be having a good time," Presea said thoughtfully. "And is it just me, or is this more sexually explicit than D-wings's fanfictions generally get?"

Yuan loosened his jaw's grip on Genis for a moment, his teeth breaking free from the skin with a loud _pop_. "Huh?" he said, blood trickling down his chin.

"Is it wrong for me to be jealous and repulsed at the same time?" Kratos whispered, crouching in the doorway and watching with eyes five times their normal size.

"Why does my dad always talk to himself?" Lloyd asked Dirk.

"Anyway!" Presea said, dragging everyone back inside to give Genis and Yuan some privacy under the stars, "We need to get to the bottom of this mystery." Popping a bubble pipe into her mouth, she struck Regal's 'cool' pose with one hand under her chin. "I think it's about time for Detective Combatir to get to work!"

"I don't think that's necessary," Colette said, smiling and waving at something out the window. Everyone crowded around her to see what she was looking at while Kratos stayed in the open doorway, hiding behind the frame so that only his wide eyes were showing over the side, still staring at Yuan and Genis. Outside, a silver flying disk zoomed up and away into the stars.

There was a loud crash as the back door was swung open with enough force to rip it off it's hinges, and a panting, exuberant newcomer burst into the room. "Hi… guys…" she said between breaths. "I ran as soon as I heard the news but I…. I guess I got here late…. Anyway…"

**OoOoOoOo**

"I am not happy about this," the spectral form of Zelos said as Celsius amused herself by passing her hand through his transparent, ghostly image. He stared with longing at his cold and extremely dead body.

"We're really sorry, Zelos," Raine said, because let's stop fooling ourselves we all know that's her real name, and Sheena nodded. They both still had a hand on the hilt of the sword. "But at least this way it's easier for you to be a peeping tom, huh?"

"I guess," he relented, floating around aimlessly. "But you're not quite off the hook yet. You guys are _soooo_ going to be haunted now."

"We sorta deserve that…" Sheena said. "And it wouldn't be so bad to have a sidekick who could be invisible!"

Raine shot her a look. "No fair! You already have Cel, let me have Zelos!"

"Christ, you can keep Cel if you want. She's god damn useless, a good for nothing Summon Spirit."

"Oh, you know what I'm good for," Celsius purred, glancing at Sheena over her pale grey shoulder.

Sheena coughed loudly, turning the color of Lloyd's armor as she quickly changed the subject. "And, well, you know, I guess we're going to have to share him since I'm sure as hell never letting go of this sword." She gave it a half-hearted tug even though she knew it wouldn't come off. After the blast, it had permanently glued to the two women's hands.

"You just know all sorts of wacky hijinks are going to come of that!" Celsius said, giggling and running circles around the pair. "And hey, maybe you'll kiss and make up, neh?"

"I'd like to see that," Zelos admitted, leering at them.

Raine leapt to her feet, unable to help the fact that she dragged Sheena up as well when she did so. She pointed her free hand at the ninja, her face a mask of rage. "I'd never become friends with a thief like that!" she said hotly.

"Thief?" Sheena said. "You're the thief! That golden banana hammock was mine and you know it!"

"I deciphered the map that led to it!"

("Banana Hammock?" Zelos whispered to Celsius. She shrugged.)

"Yeah, but I was the one who dug it up!"

("You know, it's that wooden thing you use to hang bananas from so they don't get rotten and mushy," she whispered back. "They make lovely presents.")

"But I figured out how to use it!"

("Oh, I get it now.")

"But I-"

"LADIES!" Zelos floated between them, his incorporeal arms held out as an ineffective barrier. "I'm sure you both have very valid reasons as to why you broke up, but we have more important things to do, like try to watch out for that tree!"

Raine and Sheena gave him a confused look before they were both walloped by a large tree branch. The impact knocked them unconscious immediately and they crumpled to the floor as Kloitz stepped out of the shadows, a patch over his left eye and a hook attached firmly to the stump of his right hand. Zelos and Celsius shrieked in utter terror and began to run (or in Zelos's case, fly) about the room in a frenzied panic as Kloitz tossed his tree branch aside and picked the two women up, carrying them away.

"And this is when the fun starts, yarrrr…." He said under his breath, limping away on a wooden peg leg.

**OoOoOoOo**

Sheena awoke to find that she was in a semi-dark cell with Raine curled up next to her, one thumb planted firmly in her mouth as she suckled on it in her sleep. Sheena sweat-dropped, remembering the annoying habit that she had teased Raine with for years, back when they were still in the treasure hunting business together.

"Stupid Sheena… steal my… banana… this could be heaven or this could be hell…So she lit up the candle… and she showed me the way… there were voices down that corridor when I heard them say….!" Raine said in her sleep, sighing against Sheena's neck. Sheena shook off her softer emotions and steeled herself, shaking Raine with her free hand.

"Raine, or Indy, or whatever the hell you'll respond to…. Wake up!"

"Nu!" Raine said, turning away so violently she pulled Sheena on top of her due to the fact that they were still bound tightly together- and what's worse, the stickiness seemed to have spread up their hands into their arms.

Sheena blushed furiously for a few moments before using the sure-fire way to get Raine's attention. "Oh Raine," she said in a sing-song voice, "I think I see a Balacruf vase from over-" She didn't even get to finish her sentence before Raine bolted awake, sitting up quickly only to knock her forehead against Sheena's, since the ninja was still on top of her.

"Oww-woow-woowww!" she complained, laying back and rubbing the sore spot with her free hand while still looking around eagerly for any ruins to plunder. Then, as if noticing Sheena fully for the first time, she blinked. Their hands still bound together by a fairly large sword, they made quite a picture staring at each other in the semi-darkness, Raine's half-elf eyes glowing faintly.

She lifted up her free hand to cup the face of the ninja looming above her, her expression unreadable. "Sheena," she said.

"Raine…" Sheena whispered in response, her breaths quick and shallow. She returned the soft gesture, almost timid, shifting slightly and propping herself up on one elbow so that her full weight wasn't resting on the half-elf anymore.

Raine slapped her. "Bitch."

Gritting her teeth, Sheena grabbed a fist full of the archeologist's silver hair and knocked her head against the cell floor, growling, "Whore!"

After that was done they both sat up, nursing their respective wounds as they looked around the prison cell and came to the same conclusion: no way out. Sheena needed both her hands to use her awesome ninja skills the right way, and Raine didn't have any bright ideas either. Sheena paced around the room, awkwardly dragging Raine along as she looked for another way out than the single reinforced steel door. She banged the Eternal Sword against the wall, growling with anger.

"Stupid sword doesn't shoot out energy beams when we need it to!" she said when Raine pulled her arm back to prevent any further banging and possible damage to the artifact. "Come on, Raine, you were always the smart one of the outfit. Help me think of a way out of this!"

Raine raised one eyebrow. "So you're nice to me only when you need my help. I see how it is."

"Get a life and stop being so sensitive," Sheena said. "If we don't get out of here, who knows what that creep o zoid Kloitz will do to us!"

Raine paled, but she shook her head in agreement. "You're right. I'm being foolish. Here, move a little closer so that I can examine the sword." Sheena complied and Raine turned the purple blade this way and that, swinging it experimentally in the air. "I just wish I knew what triggered that first attack!"

"That was so cool though," Sheena said, remembering the powerful magic with a sigh. "Zelos was being so annoying, and I just got so mad…"

"Yeah, me too," Raine agreed, thinking hard.

Bing!

A light bulb went on in the room.

Sheena giggled. "I found the light switch!" she said, removing her hand from the switch.

"Thank God. I was starting to go blind in this darkness…." Raine said, and then she looked down at the sword again, trying to figure out its mystery. "You don't think it's our combined emotions that triggered that blast, do you?" she asked Sheena. The girl shrugged, tugging again at the Eternal Sword. "Maybe if we concentrated both of our will together, we could create another blast to knock that door down. Want to give it a shot?"

"I don't see why not," she said. They lifted their joined hands up, pointing the artifact at the door. "On the count of three, get really pissed at that door."

"OK."

"Ready? One-"

"-Two!"

"Three!" they shouted together before feeling like complete retards when absolutely nothing happened. Sheena yelled obscenities at the top of her lungs while Raine silently fumed, both wondering what they had done wrong.

"Maybe it we weren't feeling the right emotion," Raine said, "Or maybe we just weren't feeling strongly enough to make it work. Our combined emotions…"

"Maybe your crack theory is wrong," Sheena said, making a soft, groan-y noise of anger and frustration before plopping down onto the floor, accidentally dragging Raine down with her. They both awkwardly shifted about, trying to find a comfortable way to sit while still joined at the hand. Eventually they settled on sitting back-to-back with their hands out at the side, leaving each other with their own personal thoughts.

After a moment, Sheena decided to share hers: "I guess there's no way out of this one, Raine." She shook her head, "I mean, Indy."

"It's OK," the half-elf said. "You can call me Raine."

Sheena half-turned, blinking in surprise. "But I thought you hated your middle name," she said, feeling bashful and not sure why.

Raine shook her head, blushing. "That's not it," she said. "That's not it at all. What I don't like is just anyone calling me by my middle name, like they're my friend or something."

Sheena sweat-dropped. "I would think your first name would make more sense if that's that case."

"Well, not for me."

It took the human a while to realize that this meant Raine wanted her as a friend. Feeling a stab of guilt deep in her chest, she tried to turn around again, feeling strange, as though emotion was threatening to well up inside her and would cause her to pop if she didn't _do_ something.

"Raine, I-" she tried to say.

"The truth is-" Raine started at the same time.

They stopped.

"I know you were-"

"What I'm trying to say-"

Sheena gritted her teeth, closing her eyes. She was determined to get this out, and nothing would stop her! "Raine," she said, even as Raine tried to keep talking. "No, stop, you have to listen. Listen to me, damn it!" she turned all the way around, gripping at Raine's shoulder with her free hand. The half elf still had her back facing the human, but Sheena didn't let that stop her.

"But I-" Raine continued stubbornly, trying to shake her hand off.

"I'M _SORRY_!" Sheena managed to say, completely drowning out Raine's voice in her apology eight months in the making. After a moment, her entire face went bright scarlet and she turned so they were back-to-back again. "OK?" she mumbled.

"…I think I might still be in love with you," Raine finished, her voice uncharacteristically timid.

Sheena's heart stopped.

The sword fell to the floor with a clatter.

_Our combined emotions…_

"Oh!" Raine said, delighted as she jumped to her feet, rotating her wrist stiff from imprisonment. She turned around, puzzled but grinning hugely at the other woman. "Sheena, it's-"

She didn't get far before Sheena tackled into her, knocking her down and kissing her fiercely. "Mmnnnnnph!" Raine said, her eyes wide as she waved her arms in a panic, trying to breathe. Eventually she managed to get the ninja off of her, pushing her back by her shoulders so that she sat back on her heels, looking disappointed. Raine got up, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand and blushing.

"What?" Sheena asked, impatient.

"Sheena, you have both your hands free," Raine pointed out. "Don't you know what that means?"

"Yeah," Sheena said, trying to move forward again, "It means this'll be a lot less awkward to attempt."

"No!" Raine said. "It means you can use your awesome ninja skillz to open the door!"

Sheena paused. "Damn," she said after a moment, "You're right."

Raine sweat dropped. "You _do_ want to escape...?"

The raven-haired woman grabbed at the half-elf's hand, checking the time on her wristwatch. "Can't it wait an hour or three?"

"_Sheena_…!"

"Fine, fine!" she said, throwing her hands up in defeat and scrambling towards the door, pulling out a lockpick and getting to work, grumbling all the way. Raine walked forward, putting a hand on Sheena's shoulder for support as she reached out with her other hand, pulling on the door handle with Sheena's help.

They opened the door to find that they were actually in….

**OoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Hey, it's Mesha and the other OCs!" Lloyd called out, waving to six figures standing in the doorway- the other doorway that had magically materialized so that Kratos could continue his oogling. "And Harley," he added quickly as the red-headed half-elf shot him an angry glare.

"Everyone always forgets me," Harley muttered as Mesha patted his arm sympathetically. "And I don't have red hair; I'm wearing a red bandanna, dumbass!"

**OoOoOoOo**

**A/N**: But we're going to forget that minor detail because I'm too much of a half-assed lazy writer to go back and change all the references to his red hair. X)

**OoOoOoOo**

"Just because I'm not a major NPC like Yuan is you don't have to…. Where is that freak, anyway?" Harley said, randomly changing the topic.

"Um," Presea said, glancing towards Kratos, who had begun to conspicuously sneak out of the house.

"Yeah," Regal, who hadn't said anything else in this chapter and won't again because I love him too much to subject him to that form of torture, said with a firm nod.

"No," Colette added.

All three had spoken at the same time.

"You don't want to know," Lloyd finally said, awkwardly rubbing his head.

"I think I do," Pandora said, grinning and shoving the timid Kratos out of her way as she went outside to join the other, much more interesting party. Matias sighed, making his way to a corner of the room where he could munch on celery stalks and other assorted vegetables with ranch dip, carefully making sure he didn't move his scarf too much or stain it or something. Alex began talking animatedly with Regal and they both went off to talk more someplace else because this is getting to be too many characters for me to keep track of at once, there's a god damned reason why I split them up all over the world.

But before Regal and Alex could open the door to the other room that had magically sprouted in Dirk's cramped wooden house, two figures stumbled out of it, tripping and rolling across the floor to land at the center of the room in an ungainly tangle of limbs.

"Hi guys!" Sheena said, waving at them as Raine extricated herself from the ninja, brushing the dirt off of her leather jacket.

"Oh yeah, that party was today wasn't it?" Raine said taking off her fedora respectfully since she was indoors. Then she paused. "Wait a second- why are we in Lloyd's house?!"

"I didn't want you guys to miss the fun," Kloitz said, bashfully stepping in through the open doorway and taking off his eyepatch. "Wait a second- why am I the only one in costume?!" he accused Matias, who shrugged innocently. Cursing every foul word under the sun, he stripped off the pirate costume and sat next to the mute, taking his plate of vegetables and dip away from him to munch moodily in a corner.

Raine and Sheena looked at each other, matching expressions of confusion and relief at the same time. "You mean you weren't kidnapping us?" they asked their archenemy.

"Well, I kinda was," Kloitz admitted. "I didn't think you guys would accept me very well if I arrived at your doorstep with invitations in hand. So where's my brother? I wanna see the rascal."

"Um, yeah…. No."

Then, the doorway burst open and Celsius and Zelos jumped in with their weapons ready, howling out war cries. "We're here to rescue you, hunnies!" Zelos said, floating menacingly with a large ethereal sword in hand.

"Aye, avast!" Celsius added.

"I just had to find out how to materialize new clothes first," Zelos continued, looking very spiffy in his new armor.

"Oohh!" Kloitz squealed, delighted with Zelos and his ghostly armor. "So I wasn't the only one to come in costume!" he said as Zelos stabbed him repeatedly and ineffectively with his transparant and flimsy ghost-sword.

"Celsius, help me avenge your mistress!" Zelos shouted, but Celsius ignored him to go to the party outside.

"Calm down…" Raine said. "We're fine."

She felt Sheena slip her hand in hers and reflexively clenched it tightly, smiling. Zelos looked from one woman to the other in confusion, not knowing why they would be smiling if they had just been kidnapped by their archenemy.

"Are you sure you're fine..?" he asked, a little put-out at not being able to burst in and rescue them like he had planned.

"Maybe more than fine," Sheena said.

THE END.

Not. Alex walked back into the room and wiped all their memories like I told him to, so this little fantasy was totally forgotten by everyone except me, then I used my awesome author powers to destroy his memory of this chapter. And that fills that little plot hole.

**A/N**: Reviews are more than welcome…

Don't worry, this is the last time I'll be doing something like this! Next chapter we'll be going back to your regularly programmed Sheena chapter, since even chapters are always Sheena chapters. Yay, more Presea! ♥♥


	16. Mana Tree

**A/N:** I had so much fun writing that last chapter. It was a relief not to have to think about every paragraph before I wrote it, wondering, "Does this fit with what I have in mind? Will this contradict future plot developments or help it along?" I reaaaally should start writing down an outline more solid than the scribbles in my notebooks. Then I wouldn't catch writer's block so much. It's like the flu. Nasty. I also have to think about blowing the dust off of "Sheena's Problem", "Instinct", and possibly "Unrequited". I honestly don't know why I start new stories when I haven't finished my old ones. I ALWAYS do this. I guess I feel when I'm bored with one story I can swap it for another. But never fear- "Project: H.E.A.T." will continue to update as long as Spiritua and I continue to nag at each other for the latest chapter. Collabs are good that way. Oh! And I also have a _Strawberry Panic!_ Fanfiction called "New Year". I have some really good ideas for that like a Snow White Princess to match the oh-so-princely _"Etoile"_ of Spica, Amane (fangirl squeal). AMAN**EEEEEEEEEEE**_EEEEEEEeeeeeeee_…. If she was a guy I would so dig her. Curse you, biology! Curse you for giving her boobs!

In other news: The Review Owl is getting hungry. I think you know what happens by now if you don't review.

Review Owl: (cracks his imaginary knuckles threateningly)

Pandora- "Journey to the Past" by (_Anastasia_ soundtrack)

**You dreamed he'd shine like the sun (now your son has set) "Hey Dad- grab another cigarette." Ashes fall like an unpaid debt…c'mon everybody, place your bets. **

_**Enjoy…**_

**OoOoOoOo**

"I'm going to let Matias free," Presea said when Genis and Pandora came back from their impromptu escape to the beach. She leaned against the closed door, her pink hair loose and floating around her face and out of her work clothes, choosing to wear the flimsy, thin-strapped shirts that were popular on the oppressively humid island. One of the blue straps slipped down her pale shoulder and she carelessly left it that way, tapping her sandaled feet against the floor. "I hope you don't have a problem with that."

Genis's mind went distressingly blank at the simple statement. He thought of a lot of things he could say- of things he _should_ say- but he could only let his mind be swamped by sudden, irrational fear. Matias had been friends with Kloitz once, Sheena said as much. Anything to do with Kloitz just brought back the memories of eight months ago, of the reason why his arm was still red with blood that would never wash away. It would be their birthday soon, Genis knew. Or had it already passed? After he turned fifteen he hadn't bothered much with birthdays, and neither had Raine.

"I do have a problem with that," Pandora admitted, instinct making her reach to where her sword should be. Being without it made her anxious. "He tried to kill Sheena."

"No he didn't," Presea said, her mouth set in a stubborn line. "He was trying to talk with her- I was the one who attacked him before I knew what his purpose was."

"And what _was_ his purpose?" Pandora asked, throwing the dumbstruck Genis a curious glance. She didn't like the painful emotions crossing his eyes and making his Cruxis Crystal glitter with malevolence.

"He wanted to deliver a message," Presea said. "Concerning my lost memory and Kloitz, and other things that don't make sense to me, but they sound familiar. A mausoleum, Boltzman, some guy from Flanoir…" She screwed her face up. "…And the Angelus Project. That's a bit too familiar for me."

"I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you," Pandora said as her answer, causing Genis's brain to stop completely. "If you're so dead set on letting this criminal loose on your island, so be it. It's your problem- It's out of the M.L.E.K.'s jurisdiction." She began to towel her hair dry and walk away towards the elevator and Presea made to open the door to Matias's room

"What- _what_?!" Genis said, but both the women ignored him until he angrily grabbed at Pandora's arm and pulled her back a bit harder than he meant to, her flesh pale with a red rim where he gripped it with enough force to stop blood flow. Then he slammed one fist against the door, splintering it and causing even Presea to cautiously step back.

"You are not letting that son of a bitch anywhere," he said.

"Ow," Pandora said, under her breath. She pursed her lips, trying to block the pain.

Genis could only shake his head, feeling an uncontrollable rage bubble up inside him, threatening to spill out in the form of broken furniture and smashed windows, scorch marks from fire and lightning on the walls. He pushed aside these unwanted and disturbing thoughts with difficulty, (_I am _not_ my brother_) finally managing to gasp: "He's in league with _Kloitz_, don't you know that?!"

And that was it. That was the reason for the fear- the anger. What was truly causing this reaction in him. "Isn't that obvious?" he kept on, his silence completely broken. "Am I the only one scared of what he'll do? He's Rodyle's son for Martel's sake! He tried to kill you-" he pointed one finger at Presea, "And then he turned on Sheena when we cornered him."

Then he turned on Pandora, pulling her closer with a tremble he tried not to show. "And don't tell me you don't have jurisdiction. That's just a lame excuse!"

"You're hurting me, Genis," Pandora said. Genis didn't realize what she meant until he noticed the way his hand was still clamped down on her arm. He inched his fingers free just enough for her to dart away, but then he snapped them shut again to form an angry, tight fist.

"You haven't even looked at the guy yet, let alone talk to him," Presea pointed out. "Matias is innocent until proven guilty- at least on _my_ island he is. And I believe he is. You have to believe he was only trying to deliver a message to me, someone he felt was something of a neutral ground in this war you seem to have with your brother. Listen to what he has to say, Genis."

"I don't care what he has to say," Genis said.

"And I won't put my nose where it doesn't belong," Pandora said, turning her gaze to the door. One long crack ran up and down the length of it, a witness to Genis's fury. "This is up to you and Sheena. I have no right to judge him."

"No _jurisdiction_. We know."

She crossed her arms and said nothing.

"Talk to him," Presea urged, opening the door and stepping beyond the threshold. "He's innocent-"

"-Of crimes in Altamira. Maybe," Pandora said. And with that confusing statement, the knight's daughter turned and walked down the hallway, stepping into the elevator and disappearing when the twin metal doors clanged shut.

Genis hovered between wanting to follow her and wanting to avoid her for the rest of his days. Wracked with indecision, he wondered what his older sister Raine would do in a situation like this. _Probably leave the girl and force Matias to give her every detail he knows about Kloitz and Kuchinawa,_ Genis thought before following Presea into the dim room.

"He's innocent," Presea said again, with a conviction that Genis found confusing, but not as disconcerting as the distress apparent in her eyes.

"Let him speak for himself," Genis managed to mutter.

"He can't," Presea said.

Matias was sitting on the edge of his bed with an open medical kit beside him as he applied balm and fresh bandages to scratch and bite marks all over his body. Underneath those dark rags he called clothing Genis could see that his chest was tightly bound with more bandages, and even those didn't cover other scars. Deep pockmarks from crossbows, burns and scratches of varying age and degrees of intensity all marred the unearthly pale flesh of one who walked far from the paths of light.

The pseudo angel looked up at them as they approached. No surprise showed in violet eyes that tracked Genis's every movement. Genis, about to speak, flinched as the other half-elf took off his scarf to administer to the worst of his wounds-

_Hello…_ Genis heard inside his mind. _You… You must be Genis. You look a lot like your brother. I was... scared that might be the case._

-his lips.

They were sown shut.

**OoOoOoO**

"Couldn't find your contact, huh?" Lloyd asked Sheena, only paying half-attention to her as he struggled to keep his stomach from heaving. His face had turned a dark green shade.

Sheena shook her head, looking down into the water only to look away again when she began to see strange shapes that shouldn't be there, and the ever-present crimson tendrils spreading outwards. When Lloyd left to see if there were any seasickness medicines onboard, she held one hand out over the railing.

"**Undine."**

The churning water around Zelos's boat surged upwards to form a pillar. From inside, Sheena could see a dim, womanly figure awaiting her orders. When the water fell away, only the Maiden of the Mist was left, her hair flowing like the ocean currents.

"Mistress," Undine said.

Sheena looked down at her feet for a moment, herself uncertain at what exactly she wanted. She knew the visions she had had always been in reflective surfaces- water and ice especially- when they weren't in her dreams. Since Celsius was less servile and more mocking than the Summon Spirit of Water, Sheena had decided to call upon Undine instead. Now she wished she could take comfort in the sarcastic, human-like behavior that Celsius showed instead of this dull creature, but it would be wasteful to dismiss Water after summoning her for no reason.

Knowing that this Summon Spirit wasn't too concerned with human problems like manners, the Summoner decided that she would get straight to the point.

"Undine, do you think I'm going crazy?"

The Summon Spirit was quick to answer, even if the answer wasn't what she wanted: "It is not my place to judge you."

"But things have been happening to me," Sheen said. "Whenever I look into water I see things that aren't there. Are you doing this?"

"Subconsciously you ask me to lend you my power. What you do with it is a mystery to me."

"What?" Sheena hadn't even known she could summon subconsciously. "But… _what_?"

"You are changing."

"Changing?" Sheena said, feeling more stupid and less enlightened than she had hoped to become when she summoned the Maiden. She leaned further over the side of the boat. "Changing- Undine, what do you mean by that?"

"Three years, eight months, and twenty nine days, using the Lunar Calendar standard in this world, have passed since this one made a pact with the human Sheena Fujibayashi, an Exile of Mizuho in all but name," Undine said, adopting a tone of a student reciting her lessons. "This one's pact with her became void when the two worlds were combined, but this chose to stay as her thrall instead of resigning to the shrine of water to await another Summoner. You are not her."

Undine stopped. After a moment, Sheena realized that was all she was going to say.

"That doesn't answer any of my questions! How could I not be me?" Sheena said, fighting to control her anger. "How am I changing, Undine? I _command_ you to give me a straight answer."

"You who were once the bearer of the pact," Undine said, "You become a stranger to those around you. Your body and mind are shifting in ways that I do not understand, and thus may not reveal to you."

Sheena banged her fist against the railing. "Well if you're not going to be useful, then leave!"

Undine nodded, but didn't disappear at once like she usually did. "The time will come when you must claim your right to me again, Sheena," the Summon Spirit said. "I look forward to seeing what you become when your transformation is complete."

Her words made something snap inside Sheena. "I _said_ get out of my sight!" she yelled, reaching into her robes to pull out a dagger but Undine had already left in a blast of blue light. "_Damn it_!" Sheena cursed, sending the dagger so that it quivered point down in the deck. "Damn it, damn it…Damn it! How the hell can I not be me? I'm not transforming into anything, Undine! I'm me! I'm Sheena Fujibayashi, Chief of Mizuho!"

"Yeah, we know that," Gnome said, poking his little mouse head out of her pocket. She had completely forgotten the tiny Summon Spirit was there.

"Gnome…" she said, slowly sinking down to sit cross-legged on the deck. The mouse clambered out of her pocket to rest on her lap, turning into a small cat. She held onto him, hugging him tightly for the security he always gave her. "Am I really changing? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked," Gnome said, uncomfortable. "And Undine's telling the truth. If you turn into something else you'll have to start up new pacts with all of us."

Sheena noticed her grandmother's charm twinkling in the sunlight.

"It's because of Kloitz," she said bitterly. "Eight months ago he did something to that charm, and now it's causing all these problems. I know it has to be grandma's charm- it's an Ex-sphere. A broken one, at that. And I…And…" She could only stroke Gnome's fur, letting herself be weak enough to admit her loneliness for this one moment at least. "And I… I miss Raine," she whispered, unable to believe that she was saying it out loud.

"I know," Gnome said, his whiskers twitching. "You mortals can be so complicated. If you don't feel whole without her, then why do you deny yourself her?"

"I don't know," Sheena said, and on the heels of that: "Because I'm scared."

Gnome was silent before wriggling free of her crushing embrace, using suddenly simian paws to hold onto her shoulders so he could look up at her with amber eyes. "Well, I thought Mizuho warriors couldn't feel fear?" he said, grinning.

"They don't feel love, either," Sheena said, averting her eyes.

He winced. "That backfired."

"Yeah, it did," she admitted, suppressing inane giggles by putting her hands to her mouth. The good feeling was soon gone, though, and she stared out at the water, depressed. The turmoil of the unending ocean matched her dark mood completely.

"Maybe it would help to talk a little more?" Gnome ventured. "That's what I'm here for, Mistress. Summoners have always felt at peace with me because I've made it a point to learn all about mortals. I understand you; maybe a bit more than a Summon Spirit should."

"It's just good to be with you Gnome," Sheena said, ruffling the fur between his ears. "I think that's all I need."

"I think you need Raine," Gnome said. "What exactly are you afraid of, Sheena? Loving someone?"

"No," Sheena said slowly, "I'm afraid of _her_."

**OoOoOoO**

Zelos would not stop staring at Colette, even after they landed and set off towards the Tree. Colette may not have noticed it, but almost everyone else did, and it bothered them for various reasons.

Lloyd didn't want anyone looking at his wife.

Kratos didn't want anyone to know she was pregnant.

Yuan felt vague stirrings of dark emotions- but whether it was because Zelos was giving attention or for the fact that anyone was giving attention to Colette was uncertain.

Sheena thought Zelos was being pervy again.

"Would've been nice if we could've ridden dragons here, right angel doll?" Zelos said to the former Chosen One, his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to solve a nagging doubt in the back of his mind.

"Not really. Then Lloyd would have gotten airsick instead of seasick," Colette said, swinging her arms freely as she walked, completely oblivious to his piercing glances. "At least this way I wasn't scared of falling off."

"Mmm-hmm," Zelos said. "Probably some sort of defense mechanism the Tree has, but for some reason those dragons just won't go anywhere near it. Not like the tower of…" He was so busy trying to think of what was bothering him about Colette that he couldn't remember what he was going to say next. "….Mana…. No! I mean, the Tower of _Salvation_. That's how you arrived the first time, right? On- on dragons?"

He bumped head-first into the fence that was mainly for decoration, since the Tree could protect itself. Holding on hand to his face, he blindly reached out and opened the gate for Colette, falling into step behind her with his eyes trained firmly on her bobbing blond head in front of him. "Are you feeling ill, Colette?" he asked her.

"Um, no," Colette said, looking over her should at him, frowning in confusion. "Why? Do I seem sick?"

"No…" Zelos said, hanging back uncertainly to look at her from a distance. Lloyd rolled his eyes and shoved past him to walk beside his wife, putting a protective arm around her shoulder as Yggdrasil came into view.

The sapling had grown strong in the past three years. It stood straighter and prouder than it had when Lloyd had first planted it so long ago, but the leaves lost none of their shining brilliance- a pure green, like you would imagine green would look like when the world was first created. They stood around it in a circle, only Gnome breaking the silence as he purred in deep satisfaction at being so close to such a fine specimen of Mother Earth's work.

"And here it is," Kratos finally said, his arms crossed. "Are you convinced, Yuan?"

"Martel…" Yuan said, voice distant as he stared at the glossy leaves. Everyone took an involuntary step forward to try and stop him as Yuan fell to his knees, reaching out with one hand to gently cup a whiplash branch. He closed his eyes as he pressed his cheek against the leaves, his silver hair became entangled with the branches as a gust of wind stirred around the quiet holy ground.

And then they all felt the presence of Mana.

_Children, _

she said to them,

_The last time you came, there were more of you._

The source of her voice was uncertain. It seemed to come from behind them, above them, and within them at the same time. The only one who saw them was Yuan, because he knew that the tree itself was Mana. He held her pale hand in both of his, bowing his head so that he wasn't forced to look into the familiar face.

"You're going through a terrible thing, darling," Martel said to him. "The way you are now, the pain is still fresh in your mind, isn't it?"

"Yes," he said in a hoarse whisper, clenching onto her hand all the tighter. "Yes."

He felt something soft and cold brush against his forehead. "You shouldn't hate Colette because she reminds you of me. You two are actually close friends- and you'll become closer if you do the right thing. All you need to do is let go of the pain, even if it's hard to do that right now. This world still needs your strength."

Her hand in his lost its definite shape, morphing back into what it always was- a tree limb. Mana was already done talking to the other heroes, through the different voices of souls long dead.

_Sheena-chan, that necklace isn't a curse, it is only a mystery, and one that I can't solve for you. I'm sorry I kept it a secret for so long…You've got to learn how to use it on your own now- but that young lady friend of yours can certainly help._

_Grandma?_

_Hehe! What a beautiful woman you've become… you make us proud. Just don't screw up now and you've got it made! _

_Grandma, is this really you? _

_Yes. This is the soul of someone you loved- someone who's soul has yet to pass on through the cycle of life and rebirth._

_I... I've always wanted to be able to say one last thing. I- I need- I need your-_

_Phfaw! There's nothing to forgive, silly girl. You can't help who you fall in love with or the way events unfold before you. You just react accordingly, haven't I always taught you that? Now…Go save the world again! It's gotten itself into a right mess just like it always does._

Unceremoniously, Sheena's consciousness was shucked out of the whirling power of the mana tree and she took a few steps back, her knees too shaky to support her so she sat down. There was a collective exhale of breath as the other heroes followed suit, all wearing the same shell-shocked expressions.

As usual, it was Lloyd who broke the silence.

"That was _not_ what I expected when we came to visit the mana tree," he managed to utter, his eyes still the size of dinner plates. "Did you guys all see that too?"

"Yeah," Colette said, nodding her head fast enough to make Sheena dizzy. In quiet voice, she added, "I mean, if you all saw Martel warning us that danger was threatening Aselia and that we have to work together to save the world again, then yes, I saw that too."

"Good to know other people are seeing weird things too," Gnome muttered to Sheena.

"More or less," Kratos said, getting to his feet and moving to stand a few feet away from the others, his dark brown eyes still brooding over the apparition of Anna that had appeared before his very eyes.

"We have to find out more about this right away!" Lloyd said, jumping to his feet and ready for action. "All we know is that our world is in danger, but we don't know why. Our first step is to gather information! Dwarven Vow #54- Know your enemy!"

"And how exactly do you plan to learn that, O fearless leader?" Yuan asked, angrily wiping his sleeve against his damp cheeks before anyone could notice as he stood up.

Lloyd turned to him, the grin on his face not changing. "I _don't_ know!" he said.

There was a collective muted groan. Sheena got to her feet, one hand resting on the Summon Spirit perched on her shoulder. "I guess it's off to Mizuho we go," she said. "My shinobi are bound to be useful."

Zelos, who had been silent this whole time staring at his bright white shoes, finally looked up and pointed right at Colette.

"You're pregnant," he said.

**OoOoOoOo**

**A/N:** So it's short. Sue me.


	17. Brother!

**A/N**: My computer crashed... literally. I lost _everything._

Forget the Sheena-Raine-Sheena-Raine format. I was so depressed when I lost my chapter I couldn't felt I could write it again, so I made this chapter- and it's probably better this way anyway. And now I have a pen drive so I can make backup copies of all my stuff. Hooray for me. Hooray. Yargh. It's not very long tho. I tend to make long chapters and drag everything out too long. Maybe I should start writing my fanfiction a little more condensed?

Oh yeah- and Harley DOES have red hair!

Colette- "I Promise" by Stacie Orrico. (Have I already given her a song?)

**OoOoOoOoOo**

**We're living in this world, growing colder every day, nothing can stay perfect now I see.. the world is black and hearts are cold and there's no hope, that's what we're told. And we can't go back, it won't be the same forever changed by the things we've seen.**

The dummy awaited punishment with a resigned silence, propped up in the woods that bordered Mizuho. A goodly distance away, Orochi exhaled slowly as he let the throwing stars slip into his hands. Then he tensed- he moved- the stars flew _d-thunk-tunk-dunk-tunk-tunk!_ and he jumped, backflipping and running and dodging imaginary retaliation even as the storm of stars rained down on the unfortunate dummy.

Orochi listened for each satisfying smack of metal chopping through wood, letting his senses take over his body so that his higher mind wouldn't torture him with thoughts of... well, just about everything, really. He didn't grow tired, in fact he became even more energetic and moved faster, finding a soothing release in the knowledge that this aspect of his life at least he had lost none of his control.

_d-thunk-tunk-dunk-tunk-tunk!_

Thoughts of Sheena and honor and duty plagued his mind. Mainly Sheena.

He loved her. He... _had_ loved her, and now, desperately, he wanted to try and remember why he had asked for her hand, almost a year ago.

_D-thunk-tunk-dunk-tunk-tunk!_

But something had changed when she came back from Flanoir with that girl- that traitor Urashima's sister, pardoned by the new Chief of Mizuho and prevented from sharing her brother's punishment. She returned a changed woman, and Orochi had slowly come to realize that this colder, sadder Sheena was not the Sheena he fell in love with. But no matter, it made no difference now. He had made her promise herself to him as he promised himself to her and her alone. He would _make_ himself love her, for honor's sake, and go through with the wedding and help Sheena produce a proper heir for Mizuho.

Even though the thought mortified him. For some reason, it felt wrong- almost shameful- to think of Sheena as a woman, though there was no denying the fact that she was a beautiful one. He couldn't help but think of when they were younger, when she would hold his hand and call him _onii-chan_... she was like a sister to him again. It had taken all his courage to accept her hugs and kisses this past year, signs of her affection.. but each one was a slap to the face.

_D-thunk-tunk-dunk-tunk-..._

The silence of that last missed star made him snap back to reality. He had been in mid-air and mid-flip when he made the shot; when he landed, he saw that the miss was not because of any lack of ability on his part.

Kuchinawa stood in front of the ravaged dummy, the star tightly clenched between pale fingers. He tossed the star back to Orochi, who caught it without a word. A strange, manic grin lit up his brother's face- he no longer wore his traditional red clothing.

"...Brother."

"Brother?" Kuchinawa said, as if tasting the word for the first time. He shook his head then and pushed his lank black hair from his face, his eyebrows shooting up. "Heaven help me, you're really good at that, ain't'cha?" He nodded to the dummy. "But how good are you with moving targets?"

"You should know the answer to that, Kuchinawa." Orochi was emotionless. He reached for more stars.

"Do I really?" Kuchinawa seemed amused. "I guess I must have forgotten. Boys, please take care of this."

At first Orochi didn't understand, but then he felt someone close behind him. He whipped around only to meet a huge, callused fist square in the mouth. He reeled back- another mistake he realized too late when a booted foot slammed into him and he was sent back to the first attacker. The giant man held him in a crushing bear hug as the second attacker, a Mizanese man, readied a silver needle.

"_Urashima_," Orochi managed to gasp. "_You...traitor.._!"

"It's a little late to notice that, don't'cha think?" Kuchinawa said, and threw his head back, and howled with laughter.

"Hold him still, Alex!" Urashima said, trying to insert the needle.

"I'm trying," Alex, the giant holding him, grunted with effort. "He's a stubborn bastard."

Orochi never tore his eyes away from the laughing figure of Kuchinawa. "You're- you- you- you can't be doing this...!" He bucked wildly against Alex's beastly strong arms. "You... you're not...!"

"Me," Kuchinawa agreed quietly. "Me, me, me, I'm not..."

The older brother shook his head, closing his eyes but unable to stop seeing that lurid grin lighting up the exile's face. "Kuchinawa!" he cried out, as close to pleading for his life as he could ever get. Urashima plunged the needle deep into his arm. Orochi fought even then, wrenching away and making the needle snap off inside him. He made a small groan of pain and tried to break free. Eventually the struggles became sluggish... eventually they stopped altogether.

"You're right," the man who looked like Kuchinawa said, leaning down to pull Orochi's head back by his hair with one hand. He gave the shinobi a good shake and when there was no response he let his head slump down, his chin resting against his chest. "I'm not Kuchinawa. Alex, please take our friend someplace comfortable and out of the way- we don't want anyone seeing him for a good long while."

The tall, foreign man nodded... but not before pressing two fingers against the back of Orochi's head. Whatever he saw in the mind of the blue-clad ninja must not have been good, because as he carried him away, Alex was frowning deeply.

**OoOoOoOo**

Yuan's eyebrows shot up. "That's an interesting claim to make, Zelos."

"B- but it's _true_!" Zelos said, his voice cracking on that last, strained word. "It's true, it's true! She _is_ pregnant!" He shot up to his feet and ran up to her, shoving his face close to hers until their noses bumped. "Are you? Are you really pregnant, Colette?" he asked her, clamping his hands on her shoulders. Colette could only gape, but apparantly that was all he needed because he shot away from her, reeling around the Great Tree and pulling at his hair, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!" Zelos screeched, running in mad circles. "HOLY FREAKING FLIPPING FLYING MOTHER GODDESS MARTEL ON A POGO STICK! COLETTE IS GOING TO BE A MOMMY! HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO BLIND? HOW COULD WE AAALLLL HAVE BEEN SO _BLIND_ OOHHHHHH!"

At that last, soul-bearing utterance Zelos swooned and fainted flat on the grass. Sheena, giving out a small cry, ran to him, certain that this time he was seriously, honestly distressed and it had tipped him over the edge. But when she kneeled next to where he was splayed face down on the grass he lifted one hand and fluttered it in a shooing gesture.

"Go 'way. I need to get over my heart break," he said. His voice was muffled by the dirt.

"Idiot," Sheena hissed, more upset at her own reaction than anything else. She looked over to where Colette, Kratos, Lloyd, and Yuan were standing, and then back to Zelos. "What in the name of Martel makes you think Colette is pregnant, Zelos? Did the spirit from the Great Tree tell you?"

"No," he said. "I just sort of put two and two together. Ooohohhhh..." he moaned again into the ground and thunked his head against it a few times. "My darling, innocent Colette was violated by that sword-toting, back-country, uneducated hillbilly!"

The chief of Mizuho slapped the back of his head. "Don't call Lloyd a hillbilly! He's her husband, and you shouldn't be so surprised... assuming you're even right!"

He ignored her, pounding his feet and legs against the ground. "Lloyd, you bastard!" he yelled out. "Don't you know I'm the official de-flower-er of the group?!"

Lloyd, helpless in face of the accusations, looked to his father for help. Kratos could only clench his jaw and shrug, saying, "Well, we couldn't keep it a secret for long."

Sheena's eyes widened, looking towards the tiny blonde angel. Colette struggled with herself for a moment before walking up to reach for Sheena's hands, squeezing them tightly in both of hers. "Um," she said, her throat constricted and blinking back tears. "Would you, um, would you like to be the god mother?"

**OoOoOoOo**

Harley opened his eyes, expecting to see the night sky.

He saw the roof of his tent, and sunlight poured in through the partially opened entrance flap. He tried to get up to find that there was something heavy on top of him. Looking down, he found a head full of mossy green hair resting on his chest, and tiny doll-like arms draped around him. Mesha was asleep on him, the way cats do when they find a human they decide to be friendly with.

He wriggled for a moment, trying to find a way to get free without moving Mesha, before giving up and flopping back down again. He sighed, wanting to go back to sleep but a frightening bubble of anxiety was welling up inside him, demanding that he do something _now_. He gently turned on his side, letting Mesha slide off of him as he got up on uncertain feet that were learning how to walk again. He watched her slow, sleeping breathing for a few moments, wondering how in the name of Martel she had gotten there. She was still wearing the dress from when-

(_blank_)

-last night. Harley put a hand to his forehead to fight off a sudden headache. He had fallen asleep in his own clothes too, that was good. Maybe nothing had happened. Trying to remember what _had_ happened-

(_nothing_)

-trying to remember where he had put his bandanna,-

(_check under your pillow_)

-he grabbed it, holding it in one tightly clenched fist. He rarely ever took it off. It must have somehow fallen off last night when he-

(_there's a bruise- how did you get that bruise? You-_)

-tripped.

Harley stood up straight, tying his bandanna around his head as he turned to walk outside. Behind him, he heard Mesha stirring and she said his name, once:

"Harley."

He faced her again. Her eyes were wide open, two emeralds staring blankly at the tent wall as she curled into the warmth of the spot he had lain, hugging herself. "We've been asleep for a long time, haven't we?" she said, her voice small and sad. "Too long."

"Yeah," he said, running a hand through his spiky red hair.

(_days- gone._ _and "now I" _)

"Now I'll go check on the Professor." Harley said, backing out of the tent and looking around for Raine. He found her quick enough- that orange jacket attracted the eye. She was sitting out in a patch of sun, her arms wrapped around her knees. She heard his footsteps, or somehow felt his prescence, and looked over her shoulder at him, unsmiling. Wordlessly she checked the time on a large man's watch that dangled from her delicate wrist.

"It's almost noon," she said, standing up and walking to where their Rheiards were sitting, waiting patiently to be flown. "We should leave soon."

"Where to now?" Harley asked, a sense of hopelessness in his question.

Raine stopped. "I don't know," she said. "I suppose that's up to you. I have no where to go."

**OoOoOoOo**

Sheena mentally checked off her problems. Problem number one, was, of course, that she had to get married sometime next year to someone she felt no attraction to whatsoever. Sure, Orochi was hot in his own way, but he was _Orochi. _He was like her brother, and _his_ brother was still missing and a threat to society. So was Urashima. Alex Sage did a disapearing act without giving any satisfactory answers to _any_ questions, Colette was pregnant, Raine still haunted her waking thoughts. She didn't know what Matias wanted from her or if he could really be trusted, Pandora was giving her mixed signals, _Lloyd got Colette pregnant_, the world was in some form of peril, marrying Zelos didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore, her summon spirits weren't fully obeying her orders because apparantly she was changing on a biological level, her grandmother's memento that kept her from getting sick was actuallly a broken, but still powerful, ex-sphere...

She stared out at the ocean from her vantage point on a hill near the Tree. Even without the nine heroes, the Great Tree found ways to protect itself. In the reunion of the worlds a chunk of land bearing Yggdrasil broke off from its continent, drifted out to sea, and stayed in silent seclusion from the pollution of the newly born and still confused world. Rheiards didn't work near it. Sylph were ignoring her summons, Gnome was no where to be found, and the boat that had brought them here had left while they were talking to the spirits the Tree had shown them and wouldn't be back for an hour.

The only thing she had going for her, she thought, was that Kloitz was still safely behind bars and wasn't likely to grow a new hand any time soon. Kratos had made sure of that by neatly hacking it off at the elbow.

_"Sheena!"_

When Colette tackled her it set off a chain of events that would lead to the destruction of the earth.

Not really. Things weren't quite in that stage of despair yet. What did happen is that Sheena's carefully maintained balance was effortlessly shattered- Colette had a bad habit of doing that to her- and it was only through sheer luck that they weren't sent tumbling down the hill. Good thing, too. Three years ago they would have been breathless with laughter, but now that Colette was pregnant she was fragile on a whole new level. Sheena let her head flop back onto the grass and found herself looking up into sky-blue eyes blazing with energy. _Do you know I used to dream about moments like this, all alone? Even though I'm over you, it still hurts to know it wouldn't have worked simply because I'm a girl, too. It hurts to know that. I feel more alone than I ever have, more than when Grandpa died._

"Hi sweetie," she said instead.

"Sheena you _have_ to see this!" Colette said, the words bubbling from her lips almost too fast for even her motormouth to convey. "Yuan and I- cause Lloyd was with Kratos and Zelos is still like catatonic- Yuan and I found these flowers in this valley thing and it was just... beautiful. It's every color you could ever imagine, and it was every flower- every flower _ever_- and a lot of the ones I recognized aren't even supposed to be in season!"

"No way," she said just to feel like she was contributing to the conversation.

"Yes way! C'mon, let's go see them together! C'mon, c'mon!" When Sheena began to decline the offer, Colette would have none of it. She leapt to her feet and tugged at Sheena's hand. "The boat won't be here for an hour anyway! What's the point in worrying about something you can't change?"

Sheena groaned and grumbled a little but eventually agreed, but only if Zelos would come too. She didn't trust him alone by himself, and knew that his chatty nature would more than make up for Sheena's moody silence_. But I'll try to act happy for your sake,_ she thought as Colette zoomed off to see if Lloyd would come along this time. Shaking her head, she looked for Zelos and found that he was, in fact, still catatonic. He was splayed on his back, absently staring at the sky with his mouth ajar.

"Not... fair..." he croaked.

"Get over yourself, Zelos," she said when she was close enough, squatting beside his prone figure. "It's not like you ever actively persued Colette. You were always preoccupied with Lloyd."

"Still not fair."

Sheena rolled her eyes and made to leave. "Well, when you get over yourself you can come join us. We're going on a noble, epic quest to pick flowers- Colette's idea," she added. When he made no response, Sheena gave up. But when she began to walk away, his hand flashed out and snagged her ankle. For the second time in five minutes, Sheena lost her balance and was pinned down by a friend who could have been more than a friend.

"Ow," she said. "Zelos, get off. You're heavy."

"You _are_ affected by this," he said, ignoring her words. "More than you let on. If I so much as wink at you, you beat me up, but now you just ask me politely to get off when I push and hold you down?" He gave her forearms a small squeeze to drive the point home, one of his knees uncomfortably wedged between hers.

"Cripes," Sheena sighed. "You must be really bent out of shape if you're starting to play mind games with me again. I notice whenever you feel insecure it gives you pleasure to inflict the same feelings on others, so this really doesn't bother me as much as it should... not anymore." She tilted her head to the side and shifted under him so that she was more comfortable, and smiled. "Get off of me."

_I sound like Raine,_ Sheena thought dizzily.

"Ouch," he said, sitting back on his heels and allowing Sheena to prop herself up on her elbows. In spite of herself, she felt a great relief. Something dark and dangerous had just passed between them, she knew. But that was what happened when the tension built up too much, as it was doing right now.

"I don't play nice when I'm pissed," was Sheena's only defense. "So do you want to go pick flowers or do you want us to be catty with each other all day?"

Zelos's eyes grew ridiculously round and moist. He grabbed her hands and held them to his heart. "Anything, as long as I'm with you, darling!" Sheena made a noise like she was going to be sick, but Zelos didn't stop at that. "And speaking of flowers, we know Colette is already spoken for and unicorns want nothing to do with the Professor, so now there's just Presea and maybe..." he grinned as Sheena tried to smack him.

"Come oooooooon," he wheedled. "I am a good and loyal friend. I deserve to know details, like...like..." he struggled for a good question before arriving at: "Who held the whip in your stormy relationship with the Professor?"

"Please tell me that's a figure of speech, or I'm going to be forced to do something I might _not_ regret."

"OK OK, then how about: how many times did you get to smack dat?"

A few minutes later when Zelos and Sheena met up with Colette, he had a large red welt on his face but Sheena seemed to be in a markedly better mood, so neither Lloyd nor Yuan decided to comment. Colette of course was asking him if he was all right. He told her he had fallen down but assured her that Sheena caught him... with her fist.

"In any case, let's go pick those flowers!" Zelos said.

"Yeah!" Lloyd agreed. "I'll make a necklace for you, Colette."

Yuan crossed his arms and tried his best not to say anything too scathing. "As long as Colette won't be alone this time, I'll pass. I'll wait for the boat here with Kratos."

Colette latched onto his cape. "What?" she cried. "But you were having fun, weren't you?"

"If he wants to leave, let him leave," Lloyd said, annoyed.

"_Hmmm_," Zelos said loudly, arching one eyebrow. Of course no one paid any attention to him. He started to say it again, but noticed that Sheena, who had been quiet the whole time, was paying attention to something else entirely. He blinked and looked to where she was gazing and saw that a lump had formed in the ground a few feet away and was growing larger. Soon everyone else noticed it too, but only Sheena saw it for what it was.

Sure enough, after a second of silence, a loud _pop! _could be heard and Gnome exploded from the ground, letting a shower of dirt cover everyone except Yuan, who pulled his cape over his head at the last second. "Wooo-eee!" Gnome said, shaking himself like a dog. He was in the form of the bipedal mole they had first met him as, and he twirled his shovel like a baton before using it to salute them.

"Well, all I have to say this was fun while it lasted, babe," Gnome said to Sheena. "I'm so sorry. Please don't hold back."

Then without further warning he charged at Sheena, swinging the shovel at her head.

**OoOoOo**

**A/N:** Yay, Yuan's trying to be nicer now! He's back on the path of remembering who he is! And it's all thanks to Martel... and Colette. I love having people chase after Sheena... she deserves love! I'm beginning to think once I'm done with the RUNAWAY series I'll work on some Shelos. In other news, Lloyd gets a minimal role here, just like in RUNAWAY. He stole the spotlight in the game, now it's his turn to be a supporting character. It's funny. When I started RUNAWAY I hated Colette more than anyone else, and now she's become one of my favorite characters! So that's why she gets more lines than Lloyd. Lloyd gets to say a total of sixteen words in this chapter.

And what is this? Gnome turned against his master? Has this foreboding 'change' in Sheena finally occurred? Just what is she changing into? And why the heck isn't there any Matias in this chapter? Because in the next chapter he gets to spill his guts- to Presea! And there's a shizophrenic jester girl! OK maybe not! But maybe yes! Because I've been known to say one thing and do another thing entirely so don't be surprised if the next chapter is about Alex, or (fake?)Kuchinawa, or Mesha's mother, or cheese or something. And yeah. Other stuff happens too. I haven't thought of it yet. I'll work hard at that, though.

Find out next time on _"Who In The World Likes Cliffhangers?_"!

3847 words. If there are typos or incomplete sentances, bite me. I wrote this in only two days.


	18. An Instant Recollection

**A/N:** I am terribly sorry for the cliff hanger ending of the last chapter... NOT!

**LOOK UP TO THE SKY TO SEE**

**PAPER WINGS**

**SEE THE WINGS**

**AND WATCH THEM BURN**

5,883 words, plus some extras at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy.

**OoOoOoOo**

"Well, all I have to say this was fun while it lasted, babe," Gnome said to Sheena. "I'm so sorry. Please don't hold back."

Then without further warning he charged at Sheena. "Prepare to eat dirt!" Gnome growled, swinging his shovel directly at Sheena's head.

There was no time for words. Her eyes overflowing, Colette mustered up all of her angelic strength to bridge the distance between them and shoved Sheena to the side, the flat of Gnome's shovel crashing into her head with a _clang! _that would have been inanely comical under any other circumstance. Though numb from shock and betrayal, Sheena still felt the blond whimper once before going limp in her arms.

_"Colette!" _

It was uncertain who cried out, but the reaction was the same- a deep, hellish anger. Sheena was vulnerable; on the floor and with an injured girl in her hands, but she managed to pull her enchanted cards out in time to deflect another blow from Gnome's merciless shovel. **"Pyre Seal!" **she shouted, and the flames kept him at bay for a few precious seconds.

Lloyd practically tore up the dirt as he flung himself over to his wife, leaving Sheena free to attack and Zelos pulled out his sword, roaring wordlessly at the Summon Spirit and charging headfirst into the battle. Gnome was driven back by his and Sheena's animal fury, his velvety muzzle pulled back in an uncharacteristic snarl.

"Colette? Colette?" Lloyd frantically ran his hands over her petite frame, checking for pulse and just for the comfort of being able to hold her. "Colette! _Colette! _Damn it!" A sickening red ribbon trailed along the back of her skull; fat droplets of blood fed the earth with her precious Chosen blood. "Oh Goddess, Colette, _no..."_

Yuan quickly placed himself between the couple and the flurry of blows only a few feet away, his muscles so tense he was quivering. "Give me one of your swords and get her somewhere safe!" he barked, and Lloyd was too swamped in Colette's still form to argue or think. He tossed both swords to Yuan and the former angel caught them while running to help his friends.

Lloyd gingerly picked her up, not even looking behind him to see the fight and ran to the only healer he knew- his father.

_Clang!_

Gnome parried a wild sword thrust from Zelos and forced the human stumbling back. Yuan swerved around the human, crouching low as he ran up to the Summon Spirit and picked up where Zelos had left off. He was clumsy with twin swords, but Yuan's body remembered how to fight even if his mind had forgotten almost two thousand years of experience. The silver haired seraph got under Gnome's defense and slashed upwards with the twin swords, leaving a scarlet X on Gnome's furry chest. Growling, Gnome swung his shovel again, horizontally and aiming for the head. Yuan leaned impossibly far back, watching the shovel fly over his face with deceptively passive eyes.

Zelos leapt over the angel, his sword high over his head to slash down with all his strength. Gnome side-stepped, swatting Zelos aside even as he sent a clod of earth to his right, smashing into Sheena's abdomen and knocking the wind out of her. Sheena fell onto her back but then wrenched herself back onto her feet, knowing that to lie down equaled death.

As if reading her thoughts, Gnome cried out over the sounds of the scuffle- the only sounds to be heard on the quiet island. "Don't hold back, Sheena!" he said, jerking one paw high in the air. Having seen this move countless times before, Zelos lunged to the side, dragging Yuan with him just before stalagmites erupted out of the earth they had been standing on. One of the spikes snagged Yuan's cape, though, and the former seraph choked. Almost dropping his swords in a panic as he fumbled with the clasps, he quickly gave up that idea and slashed through the tough fabric with one of Lloyd's twin swords instead.

"I _will _make you pay," Yuan said, his teeth gritted painfully, though it was uncertain whether he meant to pay for what Gnome did to Colette or what he did to Yuan's signature cape.

"Prove it," Gnome dared them, his obnoxious voice jeering. "You who bear the right of the pact, prove yourself to me! I am one who was bound to Sheena, now I am one who is bound to no one!" He turned his back on the men and turned to Sheena. She was shocked to see that sorrowful tears were flowing down his muzzle, and in spite of herself she hesitated.

"_Don't hold back_!" he cried again, rapidly spinning round and forcing them all back from the deadly edge of his shovel. _"Hurry up and kill me!"_

Sheena rushed back in, cursing all the while. "Damn it, Gnome!" she said, ducking under another swing. "Why-?!"

Gnome ran at her and, barely able to dodge the wild swings, Sheena's pale face scrunched in concentration and anger. "Your- pact- is- broken!" he said savagely, with each thrust. Steel rang out against steal as he whirled around again, stopping Zelos's sword with the shaft of his shovel. Pushing the human away, he hefted his shovel again and brought it straight down-

Right into Yuan's hand. The former angel grabbed the razor sharp edge with his right hand, his mouth pulled back in a feral grin. Squeezing, he pulled the shovel back and crushed the metal with the strength of his new, robotic hand he had installed to replace the one Kloitz had taken from him. Seeing the opportunity, Zelos lifted one arm, slamming down on Gnome's round head with a furious smash from his shield. Gnome let out a mousy squeak, staggering under the blow, and Zelos followed up with a twirling, dancing upward thrust that buried the blade deep in the Summon Spirit's belly.

**"Victory Light Spear!"**

Sheena pressed her attack from behind Gnome at the same time, her enchanted cards flying out of her hands to encircle the Summon Spirit.** "Mirage Seal!" **she shouted, and Gnome's soft brown fur was etched with grotesque ribbons of blood from the edges of the cards. He gave his pitiful squeal again, making Sheena's resolve crack as she saw her former friend in such pain- pain that she had inflicted.

"I SAID DON'T HOLD BACK!"he shouted, and a circle of light burst from the ground around him, arcane symbols etching themselves onto the ground at their feet. "YOU DID IT ONCE, SHEENA, YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN!_ MAKE THE PACT!"_

Sheena leapt back a good five feet, clapping her hands together and conjuring cold winds to supplement her boiling anger. "Fine!" she snapped, "I _will _make your power mine once more, Gnome!" Holding her hands out in front of her, with a black energy leaking from her very pores to cause a deathly aura of power to surround her, she began to chant in Mizanese. Fueled by her anger and her fear and pain, both emotional and physical, she barely felt it when she used up half her mana for one final, killing blow.

Slicing out with Lloyd's twin swords, Yuan channeled all of his energy into canceling whatever spell Gnome was cooking. He didn't know why, but seeing Sheena there, summoning while he attacked, brought back flashes and images of long-gone memories. It was like those times when you catch a familiar scent, the thoughts aren't organized- it's flashes, and an instant recollection. The knowledge hit him like- well, like Gnome's shovel hit his face and he was sent flying for a few glorious minutes, sans angel wings.

The only way someone else could control a Summon Spirit was if Mithos had died.

Why didn't he remember that before? Why had he blocked himself from this truth? When he had fought side by side with Kratos and Martel, fighting to conquer a primal force of the universe, a Summon Spirit, they knew. They knew that this was permanent- until death do they part. He flipped in midair, skidding, already running back into the battle with a new light in his eyes and a fresh bruise on his face.

He practically danced out of the way of another chunk of rock and Zelos danced as well, lunging in and out and twirling their dance of death and feeling the earth begin to rumble under their feet and feeling only a deep dread, a wordless hope that Sheena finished her summoning before Gnome finished this spell- a spell that felt like the end of the world.

There was a flash of blue light, and Sheena's voice rang out with power.

"**I call upon the Disciple of Everlasting Ice! I summon thee- Come, _Celsius!!"_**

**OoOoOoOo**

Genis recoiled at the sight of Matias's horribly scarred lips. Matias didn't seem to mind, though, simply wrapping up his lower face and pointed ears with his ragged vermilion scarf. They were hidden from view once more, and the slim hipped pseudo-angel waited mutely for his half-elf kin to react.

"Kloitz did that to you, didn't he?" Genis said, his words faltering and awkward. What else was he to say? Was he supposed to apologize, as if that would ever erase the torture Matias had been through? A fresh surge of hatred boiled through Genis, but this time he fought back his anger; he would save it for when he saw Kloitz again.

Matias nodded.

Genis put a hand to his face, his palm rubbing against his forehead as he closed his eyes in total frustration.

_If you were to ask Sheena,_ Genis heard a floating voice say from behind him and above him and within him at the same time, _She would confirm that this is an ancient but effective and still in use method of Mizanese torture. My lips are permanently sewn shut. This is why I seek her... and-_

The thought was abruptly cut off. Genis felt a sudden oppression in his mind, the way a bug must feel when squashed to death by the careless giants walking over them, oblivious to their tiny struggles. The tall half-elf didn't realize what it was at first, because not many people are capable of truly experiencing anxiety when the anxiety is not theirs.

Matias's ex-sphere glittered on his right hand. Genis pointed at it. "Is that how you're able to talk to me?" he asked, an anxious reluctance in the question. Sheena and Pandora had only told him briefly of the first time they encountered Matias in the desert, and the fact that Genis could hear him made him wonder if Marble's ex-sphere was special, too.

A long pause; Genis felt more than heard the silence in his mind before a floating thought came through from his subconscious mind:

_Partly._

And then-

_I have a message from your brother._

"What is it?" Genis said, faster than his mind could recognize the actual words. He stepped up to the barrier, pressing his hands flat against the bubble. "How could he send you a message? How could he even do these things to you if he's locked up in jail?" He knew it was supposed to be impossible, but that didn't make it any less believable.

_His servant in Red._

"Kuchinawa," Genis affirmed, disturbed by the flashes of red silk that came unbidden to his mind. Matias didn't speak to him so much as convey his emotions- only he did speak it as well, sort of. It was confusing, and Genis felt the beginnings of a headache in a part of his brain that he never knew existed.

There was a more pronounced hesitation this time around, and Matias looked longingly at the open window that was outside the perimeter of his bubble.

"Say it," Genis said. "Or so help me, I'll leave you in here forever."

Matias shook his head slowly, turning his head to the left and then to the right before looking straight ahead of him, into Genis's eyes. _You won't like what I have to- _He jumped when Genis slammed his fists against the bubble.

"Well if you're not going to tell me, then you can rot in there!" the boy said, his temper running rampant again, as it always did when things were at their most delicate. "As far as I'm concerned, you're still my enemy!"

Matias clenched his fists, balling up the sheets on his bed as he narrowed his eyes at Genis.

_That's good, cause I'm sure as hell not your friend, _Matias sent. _I should have known- you're just like your **brother!**_

Genis gave a sharp gasp, a searing pain slashing from one end of his brain to the other, traveling along the line that separated the hemispheres and lingering in his forehead, right between his eyes. The stinging word- **brother**- seemed to have triggered it. Angry and stumbling, he left the room no more enlightened than he had when he had entered it, flashes of Kloitz's smiling face burned into his blurry vision.

"Damn it, why did you do that?!" he heard Presea shouting, but more than that he heard Matias's angry, incoherent thoughts that threatened to swamp him.

_Stupid, stupid, Kloitz Genis! Pain, the pain in my mind and face and my **heart**! He hurt me, he hurts everyone he loves! Even me, even **me**! I helped him- but my father- and my **family**, I was supposed to have a- family! But your precious **Pandora** and Orochi, and Sheena and Charles, that bastard, but I survived- **I** survived!!! So don't you dare threaten **me**, Genis **SAGE!**_

Each word was like a punch to the gut. Genis was only barely aware of the real world anymore, his headache in that special part of his mind that was invisible before now, the headache in it was growing unbearable and pounding. More shouts grew in his mind; Matias was standing at the edge of his bubble, face oddly calm even as he raged mentally at the blue-haired half-elf.

_Did you believe that letting **him** live would make him grateful? You should have **killed** him, and now he won't stop until he's killed **you! **Don't you understand by now? This **Kloitz **is not the Kloitz I grew up with and **loved** with and fought with! I was closer to him than you will ever be, **and look what he did to me!**_

_**SHUT **_

Genis raged against the whirlwind in in his mind.

_**THE**_

He _pushed_ forward with that part of his mind that Matias had awakened.

_**HELL**_

And Matias fell backwards as Genis unleashed his own fury on the pseudo-angel's mind.

_**UP!!!!!**_

Presea backed away as far as she could as Genis's eyes erupted with their own light. "Either you're with me or against me!" he raged out loud, his eyes emitting a navy blue light that shot forward through the semi-darkness of the room like twin laser beams. "Either you're with _Kloitz_ or you're with me, do you understand?" He continued, pressing forward with his mind and his body as well as he easily slipped through the transparent bubble containing Matias. He grabbed the androgynous beautiful half-elf by the front of his shirt, squishing him down to the floor. "You say I'm like my brother? I'll show you how much like my brother I can be if you ever pull that kind of crap with my mind again! You're not the only one with a special Ex-Sphere!"

He lifted his Cruxis Crystal in front of Matias's face. The lights were chaotic and swirling, their colors ranging from purple to orange but always returning to that coldly burning navy blue.

"What is my brother planning?" Genis demanded. "I _know_ something is going to happen. I know you know, too. Kloitz would never settle for remaining crippled and captive forever..." He tightened his grip. "Is he planning to escape? That's it, isn't it? You said you knew my brother- well tell me everything you know about him!"

The vermilion fabric of Matias's scarf stretched over his frowning mouth and he closed his eyes, sharply cutting off their mental connection. He was a lot more experienced in this area of fighting than Genis was, but the bluenette didn't let that stop him. He pressed forward again with his mind, and fragmented memories floated before his eyes.

Matias clenched his eyes shut tighter, but tears leaked through them any way. _You want to see? _Matias thought-whispered into his mind. _You want to see your brother-? I will show you more than you want to know. I'll show you everything- from the **beginning.**_

And Genis was too deep in Matias's memories by then to fight it when he felt strong hands grab at him and pull him deep into the Stygian darkness.

**OoOoOoOo**

First of all, before the visions, comes the smell.

**It is deep and rich and threatens to choke him. Then the half-elf sees faces- some are Rodyle. Some are Magnius. Some are Kloitz. Some are Pronyma. Surprisingly, he also sees Pandora and Orochi and Sheena, and an unfamiliar blond man, too. He finds sadness and a childish, but not quite innocent heart beating fast with love and devotion, and he sees Kloitz again. He could smell him and feel him, too- every detail that Matias had cherished of his twin. More unfamiliar faces and locales, and the smell again. He looks down into the swirling sea of Matias's memory, and**_ inhales deeply the ever-present musky, salty odor of the ocean. It's easy to dive into that sea because Altamira reminds the half-elf of that time spent on Rodyle's Ranch. The Remote Island Ranch had been home for fifteen years- before the half-elf escaped the destruction with life, and little else. The half-elf can feel those leather, feathery wings bestowed by Rodyle folding in preparation for the dive, and when_ their_ body hits the water there is no splash- only recollection._

Sometimes, smell triggers the memories better than sight does.

**OoOoOoOo**

_Pigeons exploded into flight in a busy town square- Meltokio. The slim-hipped less figure had never seen real pigeons before. It was an indulgence to take a break and observe how their feathers shimmered with different colors that the eye could not notice with only a cursory glance. What seemed black was actually a brilliant purple tinged with green, and one of them was snow white from top to bottom. Angelic. If a person looked hard enough, one could see what others missed._

_Matias knew the pigeons were beautiful. _

_Matias also knew that they had been used to fly miles to carry messages, and that was why Rodyle had his child's wings made with pigeons in mind, as well as bats and, of course, his beloved dragons. _

_The only living child of the Cardinal of Earth walked through Meltokio with wings uncomfortably pressed and bound with rope, hidden by an over sized coat. The jacket looked a little lumpy but that was OK, it didn't draw undue attention to the slim-hipped, beautifully androgynous half-elf. _

_The slim figure in the lumpy coat wondered how a person could feel so calm, and how a person could just keep on living like this. Matias's mind was at a total blank- a quiet, if not serene blank that could be broken at any moment. And Matias knew when it broke, the weeping would start even though life still continued. Or maybe that was why the pseudo-angel felt so curiously empty and afraid?_

_Matias fed the pigeons with chunks of bread. _I don't deserve to be alive. I shouldn't have the strength to be walking and breathing when I know that things will never be the same.

But I guess that's the problem with your animal instincts. Sometimes your higher mind can't fight that will to keep on going

_Kloitz had said that- it had only been a few days ago. _

_A few days ago, Matias would never have dreamed that Kloitz- Matias's only real love in this world- would be dead._

_Kloitz had said Matias's wings were beautiful, too._

_"Excuse me, Sir?"_

_Matias kept on walking, certain the voice could not be addressing such a scruffy figure that the half-elf undoubtedly presented._

_"Sir? Sir, I must ask you to stop- immediately!"_

_Matias felt a hand pulling on the sleeve of the lumpy coat. The tall, tall, half-elf looked serenely down into the eyes of a short, balding man. _I could kill you, _Matias thought. _You are a human, and I am a superior half-elf. Only days ago I would have taken you to my father so that you could be treated like the cattle you are.

But _you_ don't know who I am.

_"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to relieve yourself of that weapon." The sweaty, balding man pointed one dripping finger at the spear resting on Matias's back. "Due to the increasing rates of violence and crime on the streets of Meltokio, I am currently enforcing a new law that prohibits any individual to carry a weapon unless given a special permit to do so. You will hand over your weapon."_

_Matias was silent for a good, long time, drawing out the tension with a ferocious glee. _

_"Indubitably."_

_Matias unstrapped the spear and handed it to a shocked Max H. Kynes._

_"O-Oh!" he said, startled. "Ma'am, I am terribly sorry. I- I don't know how to apologize for this, but I had- ah- I assumed you were-"_

_"It's all right," Matias said, mentally adding, _You stupid, ignorant human. _"It happens more often than you would think."_

You don't know who I am.

That's good. No one is supposed to know who I am. I died, with my father, and my love, and everyone else who drowned in the Remote Island Ranch.

_Matias smiled at him without humor and then turned her back on the poor, pitiful human. She walked down the busy streets of Meltokio, wondering if she wasn't sad because she was numb beyond feeling, or if she wasn't sad because she was finally free of her father's reigns over her life. Maybe she was actually happy that Rodyle was dead. It was a confusing thing for her to sort through... her father had always been a gray area in her life._

_Kloitz, she would weep for in her own time. Deep in her heart, she still doubted that he was dead. She felt... she felt the love they shared would have given her some warning, some mental twinge, if he had really departed from her forever. What she would do in the meantime, before she could give her heart over to mourning or to rejoice at their reunion, only the Gods knew._

_And when she walked down a dark alley at the wrong time of night, and two men tried to take her money, and she killed them and realized that there were more men like them, she knew what she could do. _

_She couldn't be the next Desian Grand Cardinal and rule Desians._

_But she could certainly rule these pathetic little humans._

_**OoOoOoOo**_

_**"It's you!" Genis said, not sure what disturbed him the most- Matias's gender or her revelation that she was the crime lord who had terrorized Meltokio for so long. "You're the one that makes me scared for my sister if she's alone in Meltokio at night! You!"**_

_"It's a living," came Matias's delicate voice in his head. This was her real voice- not the mental voice she sent through whatever mystical powers she had, and apparently Genis and Sheena had as well. "I keep a close watch on my people, though. They have certain rules about murder and rape. Your friends Epiphany are making my job hard, though."_

_**"Don't insult Pandora, or her father! They're trying to fix the mess you created!" Genis couldn't say if he was floating or falling or standing on the brink of an everlasting nothingness from which there was no left or right or up or down and went on until eternity. It unnerved him. It made him scared. And above all, it made him angry at his powerlessness. **_

_"You heroes who restored the world- you're the ones who created a mess. Did you believe that everything would fall into order simply because you did the right thing? Do you realize the anarchy going on right under your nose, that you caused by exposing the Church of Martel as a fraud? They believed in it, wasn't that enough for you? I am among the common people, and I hear a dark muttering that would chill your child heart."_

_**"Damn it! I am not a child! What does this have to do with my brother? Why did you show me all this crap?"**_

_"I was... upset."_

_**The voice floated around inside him. "No duh," he thought bitterly, and was surprised to find that his thoughts were just as loud as his spoken words- if his spoken words were spoken at all. Matias was also standing- or floating- in the darkness. She was still wearing the patched, baggy clothing she wore in reality, and now Genis saw another reason for the bandages wrapped tightly around her chest, that he could get a glimpse of every now and then through the tears in her shirt. They weren't only for the wounds- they were for her breasts! How could he have been so blind?**_

_**"Tell me about my brother," Genis demanded. "You brought me here for that, so you'd better keep to your word!"**_

_Matias's felt her temper flash. **Genis could feel her feel her temper erupt**- It was a visible thing in this world- red hot and whiplashing against Genis, and since he could not move without falling into the void he could not dodge it. It didn't burn so much as sting, the way it would sting when someone you love yells at you. "I told you not to threaten me!" she snapped._

_**"Keep your powers to yourself!" Genis shot back, literally. It was like a projectile spinning right to her heart, and he felt a grim satisfaction at her wince of pain. The satisfaction smothered him like a forest green cloak, lifting him higher off the "ground" of the nothingness to sneer down at her.**_

_She winced again, looking away. "All right," she thought, and the weakness in it was whisper thin as a mild breeze. "So you are like your brother. You will not be denied."_

_"You want to know about everything?" She looked up at him, uncertain whorls of fear and something purple and pink and red and sad dragging at her clothes whipping about her. "As you wish. I will go through our family lineage to our common ancestor. Genis," she said, her soft purple eyes overpowering him. "You and I are cousins."_

_**The implication of what that meant was not lost on him.**_

_**"No," he said at once, and the lack of color portrayed his lack of thought. It was a wild, animal instinct of rejection. "No," he said again. And again, with the white hot rage of a young man: "No!"**_

_"This power is a hereditary gene passed down from our great grandfather- Stephen Sandsbreath, one of the first Desian Grand Cardinals. The Ex-sphere works in two ways- at first to awaken then power, and then to suppress it before it's greatness overwhelms our minds." She continued on, the purple and pink soothing her now, caressing her with calmness and the certainty of knowledge with undeniable proof. "Stephen Sandsbreath had four children with another half-elf woman. Her name is lost to me, not that it matters. From those four children came more children- one of them was your grandmother, and her brother was my grandfather. And, I suppose, one of them must have fallen in love with a Mizanese man or woman... Learning that Sheena was one of us was quite a shock to me. I had to research our family further in order to confirm... ah! But we were talking about your grandmother. She married a human man with the name of Sage- they in turn had your father and your uncle, twins, the only children they ever bore. Your father in turn married a pure elf woman named Virginia; they had three children, Raine, yourself, and your younger twin Kloitz who was named after his human father."_

_**"Shut up!" he wanted to slap her, but could only manage the weak emotional attacks. He wasn't good enough yet to learn how words and emotions could be used to hurt her the way Matias had been hurting him in the hotel room.**_

_"From another son of Sandsbreath came another son who married another half elf... and Rodyle was born. He was my father, as you know, but never in act. Pronyma would never suffer the indignity of having to go through childbirth, so they simply mixed together the proper DNA and I was born in a test tube with my twin brother, Matias. I was to be named Paloma, but he died and so they gave his name to me." The emotions around them were decidedly fluid-like, but at the next statement Matias's grew brittle and dry. "It is, after all, a gender-ambiguous name."_

_**Genis wondered if he could be sick in the dream world- or whatever world this was.**_

_"And so, as you can see, we are cousins." This time, it's Matias who has the satisfaction thick and syrupy floating around her. She likes making him feel this way- he reminds her of his brother, and his brother hurt her in more ways than one. "My grandfather is your great-uncle. My father, Rodyle, your enemy, is also your cousin. But that has never mattered much in romantic relationships between half-elves- in fact it is condoned, hoping that the offspring will be more elf-like if the mana in our blood is mixed. Not that I cared- I loved Kloitz more than breath and life."_

_**"I know," Genis said, after deciding that he could be sick- sick to his very soul. "I know that... about the cousins..." Yuan told him that a lot. **_

_"So you know at least some of the customs of our race... that's a good thing."_

_**"Pandora!" Genis thought suddenly, achingly. He didn't know why- it was just the way Matias had said **'our race' **that reminded him so much of the girl. "I want to see Pandora. I want to get out of here!" He arched forward, grasping at his blue hair. "This isn't what I wanted to know! I didn't need to know this! I hate you for telling me this! I hate my parents!" He wouldn't ever say these things out loud- the fact that they were thoughts meant that by default each statement did not have to be in concurrence with the other, or that they even had to have a reason for them. They simply were what was passing through his mind. "Raine... Raine! Yuan! Tell me this isn't true!" The chaotic swirl around the bent figure of the teenager. "I want my friends!"**_

_"Of course, the fact that Kloitz and I were both the 'heirs' to Desian Grand Cardinals was another benefit..." Matias mused. Her eyes were sharp. "But we're not real anymore. I'm just a shadow... a shadow of my former life, living in the shadow of my dead twin. It isn't much of a wonder he doesn't love me anymore. Could _you_ love a shadow?"_

_**"I want my family- not you! You're a liar! You're lying! I am nothing like Kloitz- I'm not a Desian! I'm not like Rodyle! I don't want any of his filthy blood!"**_

_"I wanted a family once, too. Kloitz would have been my family, had he lived." **Genis could see the words pained her, even though she said them calmly. He didn't care. **"We would have been Cardinals together, forming an alliance like my parents formed when they agreed to create my brother and me, only ours would have been formed from love and not greed and fear. We would have changed the world, like you wanted to do. But we would have done it subtly."_

_**"Kloitz is alive!"**_

_"Not my Kloitz."_

_**"Shut up! Your Kloitz- he's-" Genis realized he had no idea what point he was trying to make. The whorls around him swelled dangerously, and even here in his own mind he could see the mocking glow of his Cruxis Crystal.**_

_"Dead," Matias finished for him. "Kloitz died, but he still walks. In the last moments of his life he lost control of these powers that run from our common ancestor." **"Shut up!" ** "I have no idea whose poor soul he managed to enslave, but he did. He pulled the life force out of them and... it scarred his mind. Desian soldiers are all implanted with a microchip in their brain to ensure total loyalty." **"Shut UP!" **"So, this faulty mind and fragmented soul must have tampered with his. At least... this is the conclusion I have come to, after seeing him with my own eyes and seeing the madness in his." **"Shut up!" **_

_Matias looked at him with contempt. "You're the one who wanted to know." _

At the beginning, it was Matias who was blind with rage and grief. Now is it Genis, and he can only shake his head in numb disbelief.

_**"This isn't what I wanted to know..." he said. "I never needed to know this."**_

_"Kloitz is planning to escape," Matias said, sighing once. "Now I reach the end of the story such as it is, and it ends with his servant, Kuchinawa. He is already gathering dark souls with Mizanese arts that no man should ever use. This is how they attacked Mizuho the first time; with a scattering of faithful Desians and dark souls that need to hide their face from the world. They plan to attack within the month; any more than this I do not know."_

Silence.

_**"I want to go home," Genis whispered, completely subdued.**_

But they both know there is no home for half-elves. Not yet- maybe not ever.

It was only after they were shocked back into their physical bodies where no time had passed that Genis realized something that had been staring him in the face. Hell, Matias had practically said it, but Genis refused to acknowledge the truth. He realized, not without confusion, that Sheena had this mysterious power, too... and Sheena had more than once admitted to having elfin ancestors. Then he looked down and saw that he was still pinning an unconscious Matias to the floor. Having a warped sense of chivalry, he felt that somehow this was infinitely wrong in an infinite amount of ways- even if she was his family and enemy. He let go of her shirt and managed to inch his way off of her and slump on the carpet, next to her. Her eyes fluttered open, hazy and violet, like Rodyle's. Like his sister. And brother.

But her eyes could only stay open for so long; she spent herself on the thought world. Her head dropped back again and she was fast asleep. Genis could only think hazily that Sheena, at least, did not have those disturbing purple eyes.

And then his eyelids dropped and he fell asleep, lying next to his cousin with his eyes facing hers.

**OoOoOoOo**

**A/N:** There was going to be more to this chapter, but I decided to save it for next time.

These are the hints that you probably overlooked; most of them are me showing how a girl- in this case, Presea- can easily disguise herself as a boy. They both use the same methods.

**Chapter Six: **More than once, Matias is described as slender or hipless. This comes into play later, when Presea is introduced using a disguise similar to Matias- sunglasses, baggy clothes, she is also described as "slim and hipless" like a boy. And the ex-sphere. While Matias's is similar to Claire's (see chapter twelve) Presea's is noted to change her voice to sound deeper. (Again, see chapter twelve.) (Also in this chapter, there is a tense scene between Matias and Pandora. Matias also seems to know Pandora's "Bastard father". Sheena sees a blond man inside Matias's mind. Also, Matias is surprised that Sheena can understand her. At this point she doesn't know about Sheena's ex-sphere. She was speaking the truth in Flanoir- Sheena interested him, but the drive behind it wasn't strong.)

**Chapter eight:** Matias opened his eyes, looking up. **_I am not a man, _**he sent to Sheena.

"I think he's a half-elf," Sheena said. He nodded again, **a bit reluctantly. **(I really thought you guys would catch on at once. I almost didn't put this in there!)

**-And when Sheena is inside Matias's mind-**

There was a sudden clarity to **her** vision, crystal clear in the semi-darkness of the room. Behind **her she **could hear **her** wings rustling, ugly wings with mottled black feathers and big hooks at the end, like the thumbs of a bat. (This is when Matias knows something is up. Not even Claire has power like this. Matias is almost certain by now that Sheena is a relation; she escapes to get some research done and comes back with a message for Sheena from Kloitz. How could she get this message in such a short amount of time? Was she intercepted along the way by Kuchinawa?)

**Chapter Ten:** He pressed the gem at the base of his throat and suddenly his deep, pubescent boy voice changed to that of a young girl. (Here Presea shows the effective disguise an Ex-sphere can help you make.)

At fifteen, she barely reached five feet tall and she was still as **chestless** and **slim-hipped **as a boy. (Just another reference- not all girls have boobs like Sheena!)

**Chapter Twelve: **"And Presea Combatir," Regal said loudly, stepping over to yank the _girl's_ **sunglasses** off of her face, "Needs to stop **using Ex-spheres to **let her climb up walls and **disguise her voice." **He plucked at the end of her baggy shirt, distaste showing on his face. (Here, Presea uses an ex-sphere to disguise herself only slightly.)

"_It- it was expensive. The Katz was loath to part with it, but they all have a price. **It can do a lot of things**. **I change my hair with it, **but the Katz said **it was very strong**. A half-elf could pretend to be human, and it **can affect what you're wearing**, like make a dress look like a tuxedo, or, or, or opals look like diamonds." _ (You'll remember that Claire and Sheena have the same Ex-sphere, and so do Genis and Matias. In chapter three Yuan doesn't recognize Genis, and Pandora doesn't either in chapter eight. This means the hiding ability is available in all of them, and is very strong. But because Claire is only a human, her telepathic skills are woefully inept compared to the others. Matias uses it to appear even more masculine, after she has come to the conclusion that she wants to be seen as male. This will be explained even further... in future chapters.)

**Chapter Fourteen:** She was wearing an Altamira uniform, but **one tailored for a boy much bigger than she**. Her pink hair was once again piled up under a bright red cap, and huge **sunglasses** **covered most of her upper face **like giant insect eyes. (Again, because Presea is so underdeveloped she can easily pass for a boy with her voice changer and a baggy shirt.)

He met her even gaze from behind blood-red **lenses**; he looked ready to go play a game of poker by the way** his face was covered up**... His tattered, **baggy clothes **didn't do much to hide the way his flesh stretched over his bones, and the **bandages** she could see **wrapped around his chest **were dirty and frayed. (Notice the similiarties? This is how Matias binds her breasts. Again, baggy clothes.)

Matias **put a hand to his chest**, apparently to check if his blood-caked **bandages were still holding. **He turned away from her, running thin pale fingers over his wounds. "You need some help with those?" she asked. He shook his head, **tightening the bandages **around his chest even though they seemed **tight **enough to cut circulation. (You see, here Matias is worried about the bandages- Presea was waving a knife around, and might have cut the bandages and the truth would be spilled... no pun intended.)

**Chapter sixteen: **"If you're so dead set on letting this criminal loose on your island, so be it. It's your problem- It's out of the M.L.E.K.'s jurisdiction."

"He's** innocent**-"

"-**Of crimes in _Altamira_**. Maybe," Pandora said. (Not about her gender, but her crime. Pandora knows since Triet, but that'll be explained later. (remember the feather?) As to why she's so nonchalant about someone who's eluded her and her father... well...)

Underneath those dark rags he called clothing Genis could see that his chest was **tightly bound with more bandages**. (Again, bandages).

**Chapter eighteen:** More than once, Matias is described as slim or slim-hipped- just like Presea. You'll notice that when inside Matias's head, not one single reference is made to Matias being a man. Every reference to Matias being male was an assumption made by the other characters, and Matias awkwardly accepted this, perhaps out of a desire not to be discriminated against. Matias also grows anxious when mentioning Sheena, because at this point she knows for certain that Sheena is related to them as well. Also, when Matias is raging against Genis, she mentions the name Charles and at one point Genis can see the face of an unfamiliar blond man. In chapter six, Sheena sees a blond man as well.

If you'll remember, the name of Pandora's adopted father is Charles.

Also, going way back into RUNAWAY, I mention about the crime rate in Meltokio and a ruthless leader who banded them together. Of course, that's Matias doing what she was born to do- rule the bad guys. In chapter twenty five of RUNAWAY Matias leaves a note for Sheena in the cave, "he" says the cave is a place "he" goes when things are getting rough in Meltokio. Also, in the dream she has, Sheena thinks Matias is Colette, only 'taller' and with a 'deeper voice'.

By the way, this is the last chapter where you'll be able to vote for the gender of Colette's baby. I hope you all haven't forgotten_ that _little unsolved mystery yet? Currently in the lead is boy, with 8 votes, and girls are behind by two points at 6 votes.

So what are the heroes going to do about the threat to Mizuho? What does Kloitz have against that village anyway?

Have fun trying to guess what's going to happen next.

(Review or the owl will eat you.)


	19. Teach Me

**A/N**: OK! Don't freak out, but I wrote a LEMON. As in, a _lemon_, lemon. As in, Raine and Sheena get down and dirty. AS IN THEY HAVE SEX AND I WROTE IT! Omg. I'm the only one freaking out here, aren't I? I don't know what's gotten into me. I swore I never would ever write one but...

I feel like such a skank now ;.;

I think I'll put it up on Adult Fanfiction Dot Com. I'll let you know when it's up. Read it if you want. Those of you who do will get some insight into Raine and Sheena's current shitty relationship as well as a very minor spoilers for something that's going to happen later in the story. Of course, it's nothing terribly major but it gives you an edge over the other readers, you know? It's pretty big, though.

And now back to your regularly scheduled rant!

Oh me, oh my, what have we here? If anyone was confused by the family tree, send me an email (it's on my main page) or a PM and I can send you a link to the family tree I drew up. It's a lot easier to see if you have a chart to follow.

So, if Matias is to be believed, Sheena and Matias are cousins to Raine, Genis and Kloitz, and Lord knows who else. This could prove troublesome... Why didn't anyone comment on that? And since my little lemon is canon in the RUNAWAY universe, that means: INCEST! I warned you there would be incest, didn't I? I bet you guys thought it would be Raine/Kloitz or Raine/Genis, didn't you? Well, didn't you?

_Review or the owl will freaking eat you!_

Lloyd- "Electricity" by 311. I really had a lot of trouble finding a song for Lloyd, and I still don't think this song captures him well enough, but it's the only thing I could think of.

**Without you, the eyes gaze, the legs walk, the lungs breath, the mind churns, the heart yearns, the tears dry without you. **

10,840 words. If there are typos, point 'em out and I'll fix em. Enjoy.

**OoOoOoOo**

Raine walked into the house. It was a nice enough place for a young couple and their small child, she figured, taking in the tidy interior and the stew simmering on the stove top. How homey. Raine was never a good cook, so she doubted she would ever make a good house wife one day, unlike the other silver-haired woman currently in the house. Of course, Raine didn't want to become a house wife some day. The thought was mildly amusing, but more alarming than anything else, and made her anxious. Seeking to end thoughts of matrimony and commitment, Raine turned her attention to the elf in question, her soft lilac eyes gazing intently, trying to take in every detail.

Virginia was sitting over a cradle, rocking it with her foot and staring at the tiny occupant with adoration in her eyes. The elf woman didn't notice her at first, but that was what Raine had intended. Raine simply wanted to watch them for a while, and watch what a real mother looked like.

Raine had never known a real mother.

Eventually, the elf must have felt her in the room. She started, looking over at the doorway, but then relaxed when she saw it was only Raine standing there.

"Oh, you came," she said. She gave Raine a small wave.

Raine nodded, smiling softly. "I wanted to see the baby," she said. "I've heard so much from Kloitz and Alex. The way they talk about how _beautiful _and _wonderful_ and _intelligent_ she is, you'd think she'd climbed Mount Fooji to hang the moon in the sky."

"I'm sorry, she's asleep now. A few minutes ago you could have held her."

Raine said something; she could not remember what.

" --- ---- ----"

"**You can't see this," **Alex said, though he was nowhere in sight. **"This is a dream; it doesn't have to make sense."**

Static and a crackling buzz filled her vision and her head, sharply returning the world back to focus only a few scant seconds later. Virginia was looking down at the cradle again, smiling. "She _is _beautiful, isn't she?" the woman said, almost in awe, tenderly reaching in to push scraggly hair out of a pale face.

"Yeah," Raine agreed, walking over to Virginia and looking at the sleeping baby. Messy black hair framed the baby's delicate features, and though her eyes were closed, Raine somehow knew that when they opened they would be a shockingly sharp, dark purple.

"She looks just like her father," she added, somewhat in surprise.

But the baby was in a restless sleep; mumbling and letting loose tiny baby noises. After a few moments, eyes amethyst and luminescent popped open and the baby opened her mouth, letting loose an earth shattering wail and scrunching up those glowing eyes in consternation.

"Oh, no..." Virginia said, picking up the baby and smoothing back her fuzzy black hair, humming a inner strength lullaby to her. "I'm worried for her. She's been getting so sick, and the doctor's medicine doesn't seem to be doing anything." Virginia's tired, shadowed eyes looked up at the half-elf in an expression of resignation and anxiety. "I just wish we knew a way to help..."

"Virginia, you're exhausted," Raine said firmly, holding out her arms. "Let me hold her for a while, you need to rest. And hey, you never know. Maybe I have a healing touch!"

"---- ---- ----," Virginia crackled.

Alex reached over Raine's shoulders to cup his hands in front of her eyes, blocking her view even as maddening static filled her ears, broken only by his voice ringing out clear as a bell. With her back pressed up against his chest and his arms around hers, she couldn't deny his presence in the room any longer. She put her own hands over his, holding them even as she tried to pull them away.

"**And wouldn't that be helpful?" **he said.** "This is a dream, you know. You _can _do that. It doesn't have to have a sad ending."** Alex was standing behind her, a threatening and overbearing presence that no one could see and only Raine could feel. **"This is your world, Raine. Stop hiding from it by refusing yourself sleep. In the dreams, you can be at peace."**

"Even if it is a false one," Raine murmured bitterly, to no one. She let her hands drop to her sides.

"**You're the one who asked for it."**

Raine's lips opened to emit more static.

Virginia's lips quirked to the side. "You sound like my husband. Trust me, I'll be fine."

"No, you wont," Raine said. "Trust _me_. I can take care of her, Virginia." The half-elf winked at her. Alex was gone, for now. "I'll treat her like I'd treat my own family. How does that sound?"

The older woman bit her lower lip in indecision, looking down at the whimpering baby. The squalls had lessened somewhat, and she already looked as if she might fall asleep again. "I really don't..."

Raine put a hand on her shoulder, reaching out again. "Go rest."

There was a long moment of inner struggle before Virginia succumbed to the temptation and gently transferred the baby into Raine's arms. The half-elf grinned and moved to another chair, singing her own lullaby to the baby girl.

"She likes 'Mockingbird'," Virginia added, trying to be helpful and already reconsidering her decision.

Raine frowned. "I'm not sure I know that one," she admitted, feeling foolish. "Well... I think I might know... a little bit." Clearing her throat, she started gingerly, uncertain, but then the tune came back to her and the lyrics soon followed, flowing from her mouth as she gently rocked the black-haired baby.

_"Hush little girl, don't-say-a-word,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a Mock-ing-bird."_

Virginia smiled in relief, moving to another room. Raine's soft voice followed her, and the poor, tired woman seemed almost to be sung to sleep just as her daughter was.

"_And if that Mockingbird don't-sing,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a dia-mond ring,_

_And if that ring turns into brass,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a look-ing glass..._ And you _are_ a good girl, aren't you? Kloitz wasn't joking. If I could buy all those things for you, I'd do it in a heartbeat." Raine broke away from the song, speaking in a hushed whisper to the baby. "You're giving your mom a hard time, though. But I'll take care of you for a little bit while she's gone, I promised. Yeah, you'll be my little sister from now on. How do you like that..."

The baby looked up at her with luminescent purple orbs, and the half-elf could almost swear the baby understood her. She_ was_ intelligent- Raine could see it in her eyes. The way they looked everywhere, darting from side to side, trying to learn everything about the world as if there was no tomorrow.

"...my little Rainebow?"

**OoOoOoOo**

Raine's eyes snapped open and she realized that one of her worst nightmares had come true- she had actually fallen asleep on her Rheiard.

Her heart lurching up her chest into her mouth, Raine watched the needle that measured her altitude steadily drop. Pressing her lips together in a tight frown, she clenched the sides of the Rheiard with her knees, giving the handlebars a sharp tug as she tried to pull the machine higher, hearing Mesha's concerned voice in her ear. Angrily flipping he headset into a mute setting, she struggled with her out-of-control Rheiard, the nose jerking left and right no matter how hard she tried to pull back into a safe altitude. Beneath her she heard the tips of tall trees scraping against the hull, and her heart beat out of pace, giving random panicked bleeps instead of the steady thrum.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she muttered, her eyes blazing with their own light. Holding onto the handlebars with one hand, she pointed her palm down at the earth and gathered her mana in the center of her palm. "**Air Thrust**!" she shouted, desperate for any way to lift herself higher.

Well, that was certainly one way.

The impact was jarring; Raine almost fell out of her seat. Her Rhiard spun in little upward barrel rolls as she fought to keep her lunch from scattering along a section of forest in the outskirts of Neo. Pulling again on her Rheiard, she managed to stop the barrel rolls and once more was cruising along at a moderate pace as her students rushed to her side.

"Professor Raine! Are you OK? Did you lose control?" Mesha asked, hovering above her. "Do you need to land?"

"I had no idea you were a fellow thrill seeker, Raine," Harley grinned.

"Shut up before I slap you," Raine groaned, purposefully not being clear as to whom she was addressing. As she expected, both of them clammed up and glided away in a blessed silence. Slapping _herself_ a few times, Raine kept herself awake when the adrenaline wore out. Turning her headset back on, she murmured orders to her students. "When we reach Neo we should stay there for a few days," she said. Maybe that way she could force herself to get a full night's rest, and who knew? Maybe seeing Genis would relieve her never ending anxiety for a few days. She couldn't help but worry about her little brother; she hadn't talked to him or contacted him in any way for...

Raine struggled to remember, and became alarmed when she found she could not. It was just as foggy as her dream had been- but she remembered that it had been a bizarre dream. There were two Raines, and there was always someone standing behind her, the way Raine had always stood behind Genis, tense and ready to spring in to help him when he reached trouble- or found something he shouldn't have.

She could feel Virginia's diary burning in her back pocket, right next to her own diary that she kept. Of course, hers was a more meticulous example of record-keeping; journal entries specifically dated and interwoven with complicated scientific jargon that would have made Lloyd's head hurt. She had already read Virginia's diary twice before, and was in the middle of reading it again a third time. She was a little disappointed in how a lot of the pages were illegible due to water stains or were scratched out by Virginia's own pen, and her mother only sporadically mentioned any dates. Her diary wasn't daily or weekly or monthly, as far as Raine could tell. Just whenever the mood struck Virginia, or she had a break in her duties as a busy mother of a little girl.

Raine looked out to see the trees thinning, the coastline appearing, and Neo rising up into her field of vision.

**OoOoOoOo**

"_What do you mean he dropped out_?" Raine raged at the unfortunate young lady at the front desk. Her own students had opted to go visit the actual city first before touring the campus and meeting up with Raine at the hotel.

The girl- her sticker brightly proclaimed that her name was Alice- stumbled over her words, explaining as best as she could to the furious half-elf. "Genis Sage dropped out last month," she said. "A letter was sent to this address in Meltokio, since you are his legal guardian and- ah- this is the address you were listed under. There might have been a problem with the mail service...?" she asked hopefully.

No. Raine simply never checked her mail as often as she should, both hoping and dreading there would be news from Sheena.

"No," Raine said out loud, her eyes already glazing over as she turned around. "No. Thank you for trying to help, me, I'll just..." she walked away without finishing her statement.

Raine stepped outside into the dying sunlight. It was almost time to go to the inn and find her students, and then what? Go on another noble quest to look for her runaway brother? Raine was tired, much too tired, to think, and yet that was exactly what she needed to do.

"Wow, Mesha, I never thought I'd run into you here."

An unfamiliar voice calling the name of her decidedly more fragile student stopped Raine in her tracks. Quietly following her ears, she found Mesha standing dead-still, cornered by two larger shapes. Where was Harley? Raine felt something was very wrong with the situation and an unreasonable anger stirred deep within her tired frame, but she did nothing, simply listening to the conversation grow more alarming with each passing second.

"Oh- Kaleb," Mesha said, her voice resigned. "I really never thought I'd run into you either." Her tone of voice implied that she never wanted to run into him at all.

"Were you accepted into this school as well?" Kaleb asked, the question innocent. But before she could answer, he laughed. "Jeez, sorry. I forgot your daddy doesn't know how to read so he couldn't fill in all those forms, now could he? I guess it's a good thing my family isn't as pitiful, right?"

The other figure continued. "Yeah, man. And Mesha- what's this I heard about a fire being set to your barn? That shit is messed up."

Mesha was silent.

"Hey, speak up!" the other student urged. "Why won't you talk to us? Huh? Why won't you talk to us, is it because we're humans?"

"No," Mesha said. "It's because you're pathetic."

The two young men erupted into laughter, slapping each other on the back and hugging Mesha with one arm as if they were best friends. "Oh man, Mesha! George, did you hear what she said? That's hilarious! Say it again! Say it again! We're- what? Pathetic? Oh that's fuckin'_ rich, _Mesha!"

"Mesha seems to have grown a spine since the last time we hung out," George noted.

This seemed to give the older one, Kaleb, an idea. He grabbed Mesha by her thin arm. "Say," he said, "Why don't we give little Mesha a tour, since we're from the same town and all? Let's show a little town spirit and give Mesha a tour of the school. Let's hang out again."

He squeezed her arm.

"We can show her where we little girls who don't know how to keep their mouth shut," George kept on.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mesha said, but didn't put up any resistance. She was curiously dead.

"We heard that just before we left town, someone set fire to your barn," George said. "And then who comes along but lil Mesha the Freak, pointing fingers at our family?" He shook her, roughly, and her body limply accepted it, free arm flapping like a rag doll. "It's because of you that my little brother was refused admission to this school, you stupid bitch!"

Mesha reacted at that. She pulled away from them, stepping back but only into concrete. She was still boxed in by their larger frames, pressed up against a wall. "Shut up, Kaleb," she said sharply. "Don't pretend you aren't to blame! Do you actually feel justified for what you did because my mother was an elf? Your whole family is just a coven of bigots! You're a bigot, you'll marry a bigot. Your father's a bigot. Your bastard little brother is a bigot. Your mother probably would be too, if she didn't die- ohhhh," Mesha smiled. "That's right. She died giving birth to your little brother, didn't? I'm _soooo_ sorry. It must have slipped my mind."

Kaleb tensed. "Don't you dare talk about my mother."

"I'm so glad I'm not such a weak person who only feels gratified when attacking a girl half his size," Mesha said, her voice painfully joyful and already cracking with emotion, despite her battle-ready stance and dry eyes.

"But maybe that's because_ I_ had my mother for a while. Does that make you jealous? Or... Maybe that's why you grew up so retarded," Mesha mused. "Grew up so that you could get drunk one night and _set fire to my barn!" _She stomped one foot, thrusting her face into his, their noses almost touching so she could transmit the full fury glowing in her emerald eyes.

George moved without warning, swinging in with a roundhouse punch. Crying out, Mesha stumbled out of the way but wasn't able to miss the next attack- Kaleb's boot hit her right in the jaw and she whiplashed back into the wall. Pushing against it blindly, she tried to barrel her way through but one of them grabbed her and slammed one fist into her gut.

_Hit them,_ Raine thought, watching with intense lilac eyes. _Fight back, Mesha. Fight them. They're creeps. I dealt with creeps when I was your age._

**"Icy Needles!"**

There was a collective howl of pain and the two brutes stepped back, and Raine smiled grimly. _Follow up with something else, come on,_ she urged, but Mesha only stood there, frozen by indecision. When it was clear that Mesha and Raine weren't on the same brain waves, Raine stepped in.

"Leave my student alone," she said coldly to the young men, who were just beginning to recover from the ice attack. When one of them- Raine couldn't tell the two brothers apart- moved to try and do to Raine what they had done to Mesha, Raine smoothly dodged it and smashed the flat of her Balacruf spade against the boy's head. He crumpled to the floor and his brother dashed off into the night, cursing loudly.

Raine sighed. "Taking care of you seems to be more taxing than I first thought," she murmured to Mesha, not unkindly.

Mesha was shaking. "I could have handled them," she lied, and jumped when Raine put an arm over her shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Raine asked her. Mesha nodded, then just as quickly shook her head no. Her trembling increased until it seemed that Mesha was on a separate plane of existence where earthquakes ravaged the earth. Still shaking, she was led to the campus plaza, and they sat at a bench in front of a small fountain in the center of the plaza. Raine said something and the Unicorn Horn began to glow, illuminating Mesha's pale face.

"You did handle them well, at first," Raine reassured her, running gentle fingers across the bruises blossoming on her face. "**First Aid**." Warm air blew Mesha's green bangs up for a few fleeting moments. "I take it you've met them before? Do you know their names so that we could report them?"

"Yeah," Mesha sighed, lowering her eyes. "But it doesn't matter. It never really matters in the end- they always find a way not to get in trouble, and then they would come looking for me."

Raine's eyebrows bunched together. "That was in the past, in a small village. This is a bigger world than the one you're used to, Mesha, and sometimes it can be fair."

Mesha shook her head, that strange, dead expression in her eyes again. "I don't care," she said. "Punishing them wouldn't make me feel better. It's just going to be a big problem..." She bent forward, cradling her face in her hands. "I don't know why I provoked them like that!" she snapped, grimacing painfully. "I'm just a... I'm the only retard here. It didn't change the way things were going to happen, it just made them angry and I brought myself down to their level! I_ hate_ them!"

She shook her head. "Everything went downhill when we moved to that place," she said, in bitter tones, angry hot drops of liquid escaping from between her fingers. "They n- never accepted us, and then Mom died, and everything went to_ suh- suh- shit_!"

After her tense outburst, the girl could only cry. Noiselessly, silently letting the fear and pressure seep through her eyes, the windows of her soul let open just long enough for fresh air to be let inside a storm-battered mind.

Raine had taken her away from the small town with its small mind, but it was still too early for any of _it_ to be taken away from _her._ For a few moments Raine considered seeing if Mesha could fight this inner battle alone any better than the physical one that had brought it about, and then decided she didn't want to. She reached out and hugged Mesha tightly, putting one hand behind her neck and letting her rest her head on her shoulder.

"It's all right..." she said to the girl. _Fight this,_ she wanted to say._ Fight! Control yourself! I fought it, when I was your age..._ "It's all right, Mesha. You'll be all right. You just went through a stressful thing, that's all. It's all right." A sudden idea struck her, the way to calm the girl and the answer to so many questions Raine had been asking herself lately. Why had she helped the girl in the first place? Why did she continue to help her?

"You don't have to worry," Raine said firmly, pulling out a handkerchief and giving it to her. "You're my student. I'll protect you, and Harley, too."

_Because no one ever protected me._

**OoOoOoOo**

The spike of ice shot through the air, ramming straight through Gnome's midsection. The Summon Spirit let out his death cry and was sent hurtling. He lay yards away, impaled to the ground he called his mother and the medium for his magic. The brown, mole-like creature struggled even after that, spasming under the unforgiving chunk of ice and whining piteously before the flopping became sporadic and eventually...

Stopped.

Sheena stood frozen in place, waiting with a beating heart for Gnome to get up. He didn't, and despair flooded through her. "Gnome!" she said, running over to him, putting her hands against his furry paws and holding them up. Two sets of soft brown eyes met each other, one of them clouded with pain and the other with worry. "Gnome?" she asked, moving one hand to grasp the chunk of ice jutting up towards the sky. It was dry, not at all effected by the warm tropical weather, and her grip didn't slip. She could pull it out if she wanted to, but she restrained herself, not knowing if she should.

"Aw..." Gnome groaned, frozen in place. No blood pooled out of the gaping hole in his stomach, and all the cuts that Yuan and Zelos had landed were curiously clean. "Aw nuts, Celsius, that was rough."

The Summon Spirit of Ice snorted. "Quit your bitching, furrball," she sneered before vanishing in a flash of blue light.

Gnome smiled at her before wincing. "Ouch. Don't cry, Sheena. You've killed me before, remember? Speak your vow."

"I am _not_ crying," Sheena said, angrily, pounding a fist into the ground as she jerked her head away, her long black bangs covering her eyes. She let her hand fall from the ice, wrapping her arms around herself, unable to look at him. "_You're_ an idiot."

"That's not a vow," he reminded her, resting his head back against the grass and closing his eyes.

"Why did you attack me?" Sheena demanded. She reached up and wiped at her face with her sleeve, shoulders still shaking.

"Aw, nuts, Sheena," he said, and she had to strain to hear his soft whispers. In spite of herself, she leaned closer to him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Jeezum, I'm sorry I had to do that. I wasn't in control of myself. I'm... I'm sorry. All I knew is that I wanted you to be my master, and I was loose on the world with no master to control me. And..." He opened his eyes. "And that's how we Summon Spirits really are, Sheena. I wish it was otherwise, but we're not human. We don't work the same way. I was loose on the world, and I became what I really am- I'm not your friend.

"Your transformation was completed, you changed into something else... it's as if you died. And so now you make a new pact." Gnome sighed once, shaking his head from side to side.

"What?" Sheena asked, her voice still wet from tears and confused. "...What? You mean... I don't feel any different." Her heart began to race in fear, and she held his paw tightly. "Gnome, what am I? I can't make a vow, not until I know. I need to _know_."

"...Speak your vow," he said again, his eyelids drooping.

Sheena had to think hard, but not for long. "All right," she said, shifting to sit up straighter. "If that's the way you want to play. Gnome, I want to control your power until I stop breathing forever. You are _my_ servant, you got that? No one else's. You _are_ my friend, and I promise I'll always use your power wisely and I'll never treat you bad." She paused, awkward. "And... and that's it."

"Yeah," Gnome said. "That's good...It'll last a long time, too. Now that you're... a half-elf."

And he_ siiiiighhhhhhhhed_, his large, furry form collapsing into itself and compressing into one shining mote of red power. The garnet floated in the air in front of her for a moment, shining its light on her face and blowing her bangs away from her eyes with a surge of powerful wind before gently sinking into her outstretched hands.

She held the small gem against her chest, bowing her head again and staring at the ground.

**OoOoOoOo**

"Dad! _Dad_!"

Kratos's head shot up and without a second thought he was on his feet, moving towards his son's voice. "Lloyd?" he asked, feelings of concern stirring in his chest. For a few moments, all he could see was Lloyd, two years old again and running towards him with a scrape on his knee. Then he saw the bright red armor and a blood caked blond head and unfurled his wings to add speed to his running feet, his cold angelic heart beating faster. "What happened?" he asked.

"Colette's hurt!" Lloyd said, his face torn in anguish as he held the prone form of his wife up to his father. "Please,_ heal her _Dad!"

"Give her to me," he ordered, handling the tiny blond with surprising gentleness from a hardened warrior. **"Healing Stream!" **he said, channeling the mana in his body, forcing it out through his arm into the body of his daughter in law. "What happened?" he asked again, unblinking as he watched the magic do its work.

Pale-faced, Lloyd explained as best as he could what had transpired. "They're probably still fighting out there!" he realized, a bit too late, half-turning to go back and help before whipping back around to kneel next to his wife, young face screwed up in anxiety.

"Go help them," Kratos urged. "I'll stay here with Colette."

Lloyd shook his head. "I can't!" he said. "I can't, I can't! Damn it, this is my fault!" He punched the earth, gritting his teeth together.

Kratos said nothing, understanding the plight of humans in love, having been one himself at one time. They waited in silence, tensely waiting for the blond to open her eyes and smile, neither willing to think of what they would do if she didn't.

"NEVER FEAR!"

Lloyd jerked his head up as a familiar, annoying voice assaulted the serene quiet of the island. He turned around even as a pink-and-orange blur shot past him. Zelos came flying out of nowhere on fluorescent orange angel wings, losing control of his flight mid-way and crashing into the ground, skidding a few yards before stopping, face-first, into the dirt.

"THE GREAT MASTER PIMP ZELOS IS HERE!" he screeched into the dirt, one hand upright and pointing at the sky like a messenger of the Goddess about to deliver an edict. Before anyone could say anything, he hopped to his feet, running over to them to place the palms of his hands on the thin red gash on Colette's head. "**First Aid!**" he said, and the two magic swordsmen pooled their energy together while Lloyd watched over them.

Uncountable tense minutes passed; and then her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around her with hazy eyes, not quite lucid yet. Lloyd shoved Zelos out of the way and pulled her to him, and, surprised, she returned the embrace.

"Ooh," Zelos said. "We make a good team, Kratos."

"Lloyd," Colette said, looking up at the vibrant blue sky over Lloyd's shoulder. "What...?"

"You were hurt," he said. "Kratos healed you."

Zelos made a small, affronted sound in the back of his throat; he was ignored.

Silence... then she pulled away from him, panicked as she put a protective arm around her middle. "Was the- do you think it- where was I hurt?" she asked Lloyd, her eyes wide. "Lloyd, _was my baby hurt_?!" She clutched at his shoulder with one hand, surprisingly tight for a girl on the brink of death. It hurt him, he realized. If she kept it up for too long, her angelic strength might snap him in two.

"No," he said, trying to calm her down by holding her, wondering if he could hear his bones creak or if that was just his imagination. "No, no, it's OK, Colette. You didn't get hit in the stomach, and Sheena caught you before you fell." Not fully convinced, Colette swallowed reflexively, rubbing her swollen stomach with fear still present on her face.

"It's the truth," Yuan said, startling them all with the silence of his arrival, so removed from Zelos's ridiculous entrance. Wordlessly, he tossed Lloyd's twin swords back to him before getting down on one knee before Colette, leaning into her face. He was discreetly trying to keep his right hand out of view, but it was hard now that his cape was gone. "Are you all right?" he asked, face uncreased from worry- or any form of emotion, for that matter. The adrenaline from the battle hadn't completely worn out yet, and he was still feeling detached from the world.

Lloyd glared at him. "She's_ fine_," he said, pulling the former seraph a more appropriate distance away from Colette. "But she's staying put. When the boat gets here, you're going to stay right here with me, OK Colette?"

"Yeah, Yuan," she said. "I'm all right now. I'm…" she took a long, shuddering breath. "Thanks. Where's Sheena? Is she all right? I- I can't remember what happened." Trying to look over his shoulder, she quelled most of her shivers.

"OK, Colette?" Lloyd repeated, his eyebrows bunching together. "Don't worry about Sheena. Worry about you."

"Y-yeah. I feel fine though, but..." Colette bit her lower lip. "But you're probably right, Lloyd. I shouldn't move... for the baby's sake."

"We don't want Lloyd Jr. to get stressed," Zelos agreed, perhaps oblivious to the worried glances Lloyd and Kratos exchanged. He sat down next to Colette, putting an arm around her shoulder to hug her to his side, grinning. "But where _is _Sheena?" he looked up at Yuan.

"Oh- she was right behind me," Yuan said, frowning and turning to see the direction he came from.

But there was nothing there.

**OoOoOoOo**

"I feel stupid," Mesha said with her head in her pillows. Harley was in the bunk above hers, reading by the soft yellow light of the lamp by their bed. "No- I am stupid. I'm the stupidest person in the world."

"Now, now, don't brag," he said absently, flipping the page.

"You weren't there. You didn't see the way I acted!" Mesha continued, clenching at her pillows with claw-like hands, tensing from the shame. "I was totally out of line."

"Mmnn," Harley said. "The Professor doesn't seem too upset. You're the only one who cares about what happened, Mesha, so get over it."

"Easy for you to say," Mesha muttered, turning over to rest on her back, staring at the bottom of Harley's bunk. "...Maybe I should apologize."

"For what?"

"Have you been _listening_?" Mesha snapped, standing up and climbing halfway up the ladder to Harley's bunk, her angry green head poking up over the side of the mattress. "I picked a fight with those thugs and then made a total fool out of myself in front of Raine! She probably thinks I'm pathetic!"

Harley snapped shut his book, annoyed. "All I've been hearing is a lot of self-pity going on. Why do you girls have to over analyze everything you do? The way I see it, those jerks got what they deserved."

Mesha didn't have anything to say to that, but inside she raged against it. She couldn't remember the anger Kaleb had stirred in her, a deep anger she hid from the world. She didn't see that ugly part of her that reared it's head to protect herself from the ugliness of those around her. All she could see was Raine's pale skin, the way it had been when the girl had put her face against the woman's shoulder and sobbed her heart out.

Her face aflame, she hopped off the ladder and walked out of the room, intent on finding Raine. It wasn't very hard, as it turned out. She was sitting in the spacious lobby of their hotel, in an area meant for socializing. Of course, it was too late in the night for anyone else to be there and so she sat undisturbed, a solitary figure hunched over a small notebook.

Mesha could only stand there staring at her, waiting to be noticed, wondering what she would do if she was noticed, and wondering if it was too late to just turn back and try to forget about it the way Raine already seemed to. She was frozen in mid-step, already plagued with indecision. Raine didn't say anything, didn't give any indication at all that she realized she wasn't alone. She looked tired, and maybe even a little sad, as her pen danced along the page with a dry hiss. After who-knows-how long, she stopped for a moment, dropping her quill with a sigh and reaching high above her to stretch out the kinks in her back and yawning.

It was then that she noticed Mesha. Her eyebrows quirked up and she smiled thinly, beckoning her student closer. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked when Mesha hurried over and sat down next to her teacher.

Mesha shook her head.

"Me neither. A blessing, I suppose, for a work-a-holic like myself." She tilted her notebook to the side so that Mesha could look at the scribbles. "Care to look?"

"Sure," Mesha said, though in all honesty she couldn't understand half of what Raine had written, and admitted so. It all looked so complicated, like a giant formula for something, though for what she couldn't begin to understand.

"To be honest..." Raine said, and Mesha could see she was trying hard not to smile, "It's a human."

Mesha turned in her seat, her thin green eyebrows shooting high up her forehead. "Is that some sort of figure of speech, Professor?" she demanded.

"I'm telling the truth," the Professor said, grinning fully now. She took the notebook back and flipped back several pages jammed with notes and scribbles and formulas. "If you memorize this within a day," she continued, "I will automatically fall down on my knees, worship you, and call you my Master. This is every biological reaction that occurs within the human body, the automatic processes that makes them breathe, sleep, digest their food..." she waved her hand. "_Et cetera_."

Mesha leaned closer to look at the scrawls. She frowned. "Did _you_ memorize it in a day?" she accused, forgetting that she was supposed to be apologizing for the trouble her sharp tongue had gotten her into earlier.

"Of course not," Raine said. "But that's not the point. I'm not actually daring you to memorize it, and I don't expect you to. The only reason I know it is because of my connection with the unicorn horn. I'm just saying, the human body is so complex, it's fascinating. The half-elf body seems so different, even on a biological level, not to mention cultural and..." suddenly down, Raine propped her chin on one hand and sighed, looking down at her notebook without really seeing it. "And I have a theory, too, my Creator theory, but if it's not true for half-elves..."

Mesha made a curious little sound in the back of her throat and Raine snapped back to reality, her cool, detached smile back in place. "But I don't like sharing my Creator theory. Why don't we get started on your next lesson, instead?"

And there you go. Quicker than you could say "_change the subject._"

Mesha shrugged noncommittally. "New lessons?" she asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She was having trouble enough learning magic, now Raine wanted to teach her even more? Mesha didn't think her brain was capable of learning anything new.

"Well..." Raine said. "Why not? If neither of us can sleep. Let's see, how about..." Raine flipped back in her notebook, searching for something. "Let's start with the basics of Physical Science. Gravity, motion, velocity, weight..." She looked up. "I bet you haven't learned about any of that, have you?"

"I just suddenly became exhausted," Mesha said, plunking her forehead down onto the table.

Raine frowned. "Then why did you come down? What, did you think we were on a constant field trip? You need to get some real lessons sometime. Otherwise I'd be failing myself as a teacher."

"Well, I couldn't sleep. And... I wanted to apologize for the way I acted today." She bit her lip, waiting for a reaction from Raine, not lifting her head from the table.

"...There's nothing to apologize for," Raine said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Mesha jerked her head up at that. "But, Professor, it was my fault and you probably hate me because-!" she said.

"Mesha, I'm telling you there's nothing to apologize for," Raine said, putting her free hand over Mesha's mouth. "Is it hard to believe that someone doesn't blame you for what happened? Or that someone could understand your anger towards humans? I've been in your shoes, Mesha, and I've seen this same scenario over and over again, and I'm telling you now," Raine shifted in her seat so that she was facing Mesha and looked down at the girl, "No one blames you, or hates you. _Especially_ not me."

Mesha frowned, closing her eyes to try and remember her guilt, and her need to apologize. Raine's words were making it hard, though, to feel as though she had wronged and made her feel more like she had been wronged against. "But-" she tried again, feeling Raine's grip on her shoulder tighten. This time, though, Raine leaned forward and stopped her with her lips. Mesha's eyes snapped open and she sat rigid in her seat, staring in shock. It flashed through her mind that this was a kiss, her first kiss, and it was not at all like she had expected it to be. Then all she could think was that Raine's lips were incredibly soft, and she almost jumped in her seat when as the Professor pulled away way too soon. She hadn't thought there would be a noise, but there was. A startlingly loud, wet smacking sound as their lips parted- or maybe it was only loud in her imagination as she turned her head to look around her, expecting to see someone gawking at them with disgust in their eyes.

Raine got to her feet so quickly she almost knocked her chair over backwards. Snatching it before it could topple and create even more noise than their kiss had, she took a few steps away and looked back at Mesha to see her turning her head aside and discreetly wiping at her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes trained on a spot on the floor and spots of color blooming high on her cheeks.

**OoOoOo**

Sheena was on a steep cliff overlooking the tranquil ocean around the Island of the Great Tree, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees as she looked down into the water that she no longer controlled. Gnome sat next to her in mole form, his bright red bow spinning sporadically, but his heart didn't seem in it today.

"How many of you have already left me?" she asked him, holding his garnet tightly in one hand, afraid she might drop it. "Now that I'm... different?"

"Now that your transformation into a half-elf is complete?" he asked back, almost idly. She winced, looking away from him. "I don't know," he answered. "How many of us did you make a pact with before you made a pact with me?"

She frowned, thinking to keep herself from thinking about... about the unbelievable truth behind what Undine had told her. "First came Undine... then Volt. After that was you, after that was Celsius, the Sylph, Efreet, Shadow, Luna, Origin, and then Maxwell." She paused for a good long moment before laughing dryly. "I think I just summarized one third of our whole quest to reunite the worlds just now. Are you telling me I have to go back and do it all again?"

"It'll be easier now," he promised. "Now you don't have as much at stake, do you? You don't have to wonder who your friends are, whether your loyalty is to Sylvarant or Tethe'alla, and all those other distractions."

Sheena put her forehead against her knees. "No," she said. "There's still a lot at stake. Mana told us there's danger in this new world Lloyd made, and I'm powerless without you guys. How long until I lose the rest of you, the ones who make me at all worthwhile?"

"Hey now, babe," Gnome said reprovingly, shoving her. "You kicked ass before you had us, you'll still kick ass if you choose not to get us back."

"You didn't answer my question," Sheena sighed.

"Probably three days, at the very most a week," he said. "Around that time you'll lose connection with Maxwell, which'll be pretty bad cause you're the one who keeps Exire floating."

Sheena felt her heart leap into her throat. "What?" She asked, leaping to her feet. "That's terrible! If that's the case, then he's the first one I gotta renew the pact with, or else all those people living on Exire will be in danger!"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa," he said, yanking on her pant leg to pull her back down next to him. "Calm down some, Sheena. You can't renew the pact with him until the pact is broken. All you have to do is be there when it breaks. The actual Keeping-Exire-Floating part is still effective for at least a day after it breaks, so you have plenty of time to beat him up." He blinked, looking back at the ocean. "Oh... wait... But you need to have pacts with a bunch of other summon spirits first before you take him on, or else the snob won't even look at you, am I right?"

Sheena shook her head. "Great Goddess Martel. Gnome, thanks for telling me this and all, but it really hasn't made my day any better."

"Don't hate the messenger."

"Can't Maxwell keep Exire up by himself?" Sheena asked, slamming a fist into the ground in frustration. "Damn it!"

"Well... no, now that you mention it," Gnome said. "He needs you."

"He needs me to tell him to do something that's right?" Sheena asked. "Gnome, no offense meant, but you're the most human of the Summon Spirits. If you had a responsibility like that, you'd do it without a master..." She glanced at him, anxious. "Right?"

"Well yeah, Sheena," Gnome said. "But it isn't that simple. Maxwell would if he could, but he can't do something so huge without a master." His furry little eyebrows raised, he kept on, "You have to be his catalyst."

It was Sheena's turn to lift one eyebrow up. "You mean like your garnet?" she asked, holding the gem up to the light.

"No, that's the symbol of our pact," Gnome said, patiently, like you would with a child. "But we need a master in order to channel the energy necessary for our complex spells."

Sheena frowned. "I thought you guys already had all this amazing power and I just point at what I want zapped and you zap it... Or send it up in flames, or crush it in dirt or freeze it or something."

"You mean you're the one who made all these pacts with us in the first place and you don't even know what the hell you're doing?!" Gnome exclaimed, throwing his front paws in the air. "For three years you've been causing mass devastation to your enemies and all you think is that you say Abracadabra and I go like a good little dog?! Jeezum, Sheena!"

Her face hot, Sheena shot back at him, "Well excuse me, Gnome, but how the hell would I know all the specific little details about an art that almost no one alive today knows a goddess damned thing about?"

"I dunno, you're the summoner here!"

"Well, I _don't_ know about all that, Gnome," she snapped. "So can you please explain before I have to get _really_ nasty with you?"

Gnome muttered under his breath for a few moments, punching the ground and causing the grass to grow around him in agitation. "Fine, fine," he said. "You go up to a Summon Spirit, beat him up to show him he's not dealing with some punk, and propose a pact. If the spirit likes the vow you said, then presto! You now have a shiny new pact that lasts until you croak or the spirit says you've broken your vow- but you know that at least, right?"

"Right..." she said.

"So now, the Summon Spirit and you have a sort of symbiotic relationship. He- or she- or it- can now do all sorts of neato tricks with their element because they use their summoner as a catalyst and an energy source from which to draw power from. But the person who mainly uses all these neato tricks is the summoner himself- or herself- because the summoner is the one who technically created the spell. And now the Summon Spirit is free to leave the immediate area around their shrine to go do as they wish- except for Aska, who's really not a summon spirit at all but Luna's consort so he can do whatever he damn well feels like whether or not Luna is in a pact or not. And so, since this power is technically all the summoner's, the summoner can do most of these spells by herself without actually summoning, especially if they're a half-elf that's full of all that conflicting mana. It's the really big things, like Keeping-Exire-Floating, that need the actual summoning, but you were too stupid to realize this, so that's why you're always so exhausted after a battle where you summon one of us after a lot of unnecessary chanting and mumbo jumbo."

Gnome paused to take a deep breath, looking at Sheena with all serious intent as he finished this long lecture with one last word:

"Duh."

Sheena could only stare at him in shock. "How on earth was I supposed to know all that? How could you just... _assume_... that I..."

"I dunno, you're the summoner here!"

"Would you _please_ stop saying that?" Sheena growled at him, poking him on his furry brown chest.

"As my Master commands," he said. "So now what? Who do we go after first?"

"No one," Sheena said, standing up again. "We go to Mizuho and inform them to be on full alert for any suspicious activity. If Mana isn't going to tell us what this danger is, we have to use our own heads. And I want to know..." she lifted one hand, letting her grandmother's broken ex-sphere. "...I want to know if I can find out the truth. The _whole_ truth- about me, my parents, everything." She looked down at the summon spirit, her brown eyes almost glaring. "Gnome," she said, "If I'm supposedly so powerful when I have a summon spirit... do we have a way to get to Mizuho really fast?"

Gnome grinned lazily, tossing his head back to look at the sky. "Well, now that you mention it..." he said.

"Then let's go," she said, nodding decisively. "To Mizuho. Lloyd and the others will catch up soon enough."

**OoOoOo**

"Rise and shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, sleepy head!"

Mesha's heart leaped into her mouth as she shot straight up in her bed, banging her head against the bottom of Harley's bunk. She groaned, rolling off her mattress and clutching at her forehead even as last night rushed straight to her topmost thoughts, only temporarily reprieved by the abyss of sleep. Getting to her feet without a word, she looked at Harley as if he might have all the answers to her confusion, wishing somehow that he could just suddenly know what had happened so that they could talk about it without Mesha having to actually... _tell_ him what had happened.

"Hey, are you all right?" Harley asked her, suddenly concerned at her pale, pinched expression. He ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry I scared you. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah!" Mesha croaked. "Just... didn't get that much sleep." _I was too busy thinking about Raine._

Harley looked at her critically, hands on his hips. "You look terrible," he said. "Here- sit down a second." He put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit on the edge of her mattress. "**First Aid!**" he said, letting the warmth seep through his outstretched hand into her tiny frame.

The sudden relief had an almost... well... magical effect on her. She felt her headache from lack of sleep slip away and the tension in her shoulders ease. Sighing once, she let her eyelids drop, finding the strength within her to sit down and really think about what she should do next. "Thanks," she said. "You really have no idea how much that helped."

"Well, glad I could help," Harley said, puffing out his chest proudly at the flattery. "Anyway, get your skinny butt movin'. There's a plate of breakfast with my name on it waiting downstairs."

Feeling a little sick at the thought, Mesha sank down onto her mattress again, her arm over her eyes. "Um... no thanks, Harley," she said. "I'm not hungry. I think I'll skip breakfast."

There was silence in the room. Mesha waited for a good long while before peeking from under her arm to see Harley with a deep frown on his face. "You give me no choice, then," he said, pulling off his bandanna and tying it around his eyes.

Mesha sat up some, red flags going up in her head. "Harley..." she started in a warning tone, but didn't get very far after that.

People seemed intent on not letting her finish her statements nowadays, because Harley grabbed her ankles and lifted her up high with her head dangling towards the floor. "Yoink!" Harley said, pinching the back of her nightgown and slipping it off of her with the flourish of a magician lifting a table cloth to reveal a birdcage underneath that had previously not existed. Being careful where he put his hands, he set her down and took a leap backwards, holding the nightgown above his head where he knew she couldn't reach. "Now you have five minutes to get dressed, Mesha!" he crowed, "After that I'm gonna take off the blindfold, so chop chop!"

"Harley, you- you _idiot_!" Mesha shrieked, hopping into her bed and pulling the blankets over herself. _"If you don't get out of this room right now, so help me Goddess Martel I'll burn you into a cinder_!"

"Psh," Harley said, waving his hands dismissively as he blindly turned his head to where he figured Mesha's voice came from. "You can't start a fire to save your life."

"Yes I can!" Mesha said, "So **move**!" Harley let out a yowl as his bandanna caught fire. He ripped it off, tossing it on the floor and stomping on it while cursing up a storm.

"Cripes, Mesha!" he said, backing towards the door. Mesha's green eyes blazed from under the folds of the blanket, promising further pain. "Don't get so-"

He stopped as he felt something tap the top of his skull a few times.

"I think you should leave, Harley," Raine said, her eyes cool and indifferent as she stepped up next to him to fix him with her stare. Her Balacruf spade was in one hand, tapping him again with the broad, blunt face, but this time in the stomach. She herded him backwards out the open door and then closed it behind him, locking it with a conspicuous, loud click.

Raine sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I chose him to be my first student," she said to the closed door, her back still facing Mesha. "He learns fast, is eager to learn, and has no family to speak of so he had no other real obligations, but-" she turned around only to quickly face the door again. She leaned against it, one palm pressed to her forehead.

Mesha flushed, pulling the blankets tighter around herself.

"I'm sorry," Raine said, "I should leave as well."

"Um, n-no," Mesha said, standing up with the blankets wrapped around her like a robe. "It's all right if it's you. Just keep your back turned for a second, OK?"

Raine said nothing, her hand resting on the door handle as she listened to Mesha padding across the room to where she kept her clothes. Mesha tried not to take her time, but all the while she couldn't help but stall for a few moments to stand and look at Raine's back, her mind churning with a way to broach the subject of what had happened last night. But when she was done dressing and told Raine it was safe to turn around again, she still drew a blank.

"He didn't mean anything by it," Raine said, looking down at her spade and running a few fingers along the curves of the unicorn horn. "But I'll have a talk with him, all the same. And-" Raine stopped, looking up at Mesha with wary eyes for a few moments before continuing. "Perhaps it's best if you two don't share a room any more, either. Harley still needs to learn that you're a girl, and certain things just aren't appropriate."

"OK," Mesha said. "I mean... really, it's OK. I know he didn't mean anything by it. I don't think Harley even likes me that way."

Raine nodded and reached behind her for the door handle. "And I need to apologize... but perhaps it's best if we don't ever talk about what I did last night," she said, so soft and so sudden that it took a few moments for Mesha to comprehend.

"But why?" Mesha asked, honestly curious. "I mean... why can't we talk about it?"

"Because it didn't happen," Raine said, unlocking the door and opening it behind her, taking a few steps forward to let a bit of the outside world into the room. Mesha could hear the other inn occupants already downstairs and eating the breakfast provided. Harley was easily pinpointed among all the other noises, being the loudest noise at the table himself.

Mesha's mouth dropped open a small bit. "What?" she demanded. "Professor, I'm sorry, but... no." With a daring that surprised even herself, she strode forward and reached out with one arm, pushing the door shut while locking it securely with her other hand.

With both of Mesha's arms on each side of Raine, there wasn't much for the Professor to do but stand there, looking down at her student and waiting for her to make the next move.

"You can't just do something like that and expect me to ignore it like it didn't matter or something," Mesha said, her face aflame but her stance unyielding. "I mean, Professor... that was my first kiss. And it was with a _girl_. I didn't even know girls could kiss."

"I know I must have confused you, Mesha," Raine said, her voice sounding different to Mesha somehow. It seemed a little less cold than normal, a lot more emotional. "And I don't think I can describe with words how sorry I am. It was a stressful night for you as it was and I'm certain I didn't make it any better."

"But... _why_?" Mesha asked again, falteringly. "What did it mean? Why did you do that? Is it cause you like me?"

Raine put a hand on Mesha's arm, pushing away. "Mesha, I really think we should drop this before things get even more confusing between us. I'm your teacher. That's all."

"Well, if you're my teacher the least you can do is answer my questions!" Mesha said, trying to keep her voice steady, but it came out in what seemed to her to be a very annoying whine. Her blush intensified, the tips of her pointed ears turning scarlet as well. "And I want to know _why_. Can't I know why?" Raine pursed her lips at that, in annoyance, anger, or something else, Mesha couldn't tell. Mesha found it very disconcerting that she noticed Raine's lips now, a lot more than she had before.

Raine, at least, hadn't lost total control of her voice yet. Calmly, she said, "Because I'm a very bad person, Mesha. I'm using you, even when I teach you and try to take care of you. Every action since I became your teacher has been out of pure selfishness. Even now I'm making you suffer when I should be the one to help you." She closed her eyes, lowering her head as if in prayer. "That's why. It's not much, but it's like you said. I should be able to at least answer your questions if I'm going to be your teacher."

Mesha didn't know what to say to that. She let her arms drop down to her sides and took a few steps back, her eyes trained on her own feet as she tried to understand.

"I'm sorry," Raine said, turning to leave.

Mesha looked up.

"...Wait." Mesha caught the edge of her sleeve, stepping forward again and tilting her head to the side. She closed her eyes, reaching up and planting a small kiss on Raine's lips. Not a full blown kiss, it was more like she kissed the side of Raine's mouth. It was safe, experimental, a question.

Raine answered it.

"That isn't the way you do it," she said, and then pulled Mesha closer by her waist, giving her another one of those mind-meltingly soft kisses, a quick taste of Raine's lips that was gone before Mesha could drink her fill, leaving her wanting more. "I do like you, Mesha..." Raine said into her ear, the closeness of her breath sending jolting but pleasant ripples down her spine. "That's the problem. I shouldn't like you as much as I do." She tried to pull away again but Mesha latched onto her shoulders, her eyes pleadingly wide.

They heard Harley's loud laughter drift up the stairs.

"We have to go downstairs," Raine reminded her firmly, almost ripping Mesha's hands off of her. "We'll talk about this later, understand?"

The half-elf nodded, a little dizzily. "Later," Mesha agreed, her voice distant. "OK. Yeah. I mean... yeah." Raine opened the door, holding it open for Mesha. The half-elf stepped outside, her green hair hanging over her face like a thick curtain of moss, hiding the large grin that had spread across her face. She sat through breakfast without a word, her food lying untouched before her, because all she could think about was the silver-haired half-elf sitting next to her at the table, acting for all the world as if nothing had happened.

**OoOoOo**

**A/N:** Hehehe, I know I say it a lot, but I don't think you can really realize how soft lips are until you've kissed them. ♥ It really does blow your mind away. Or at least it blew my mind away. And oh shoes! Has Raine forgotten about Sheena already? Is she just really, really lonely? And if so... How's Mesha gonna react when she realizes she's just the rebound girl? And Sheena is now officially a HALF ELF! Oh, the drama!

Chapter Eight: (RUNAWAY) Kloitz makes it a point not to kill Sheena. Instead, he finds a way to reveal her grandmother's pendant and talks about it, indicating he already knows what it is and he knows a lot about Sheena.

Chapter Nine: (RUNAWAY) At one point, Sheena takes her necklace off to wrap it around her wrist. In these scant few seconds, Raine looks at her strangely and begins to ask her a question, "Sheena, are you-" but then stops once Sheena has the charm back on again. Hmm.

Chapter Twelve: (PARTNERS) "_It- it was expensive. The Katz was loath to part with it, but they all have a price. It can do a lot of things. I change my hair with it, but the Katz said it was very strong. **A half-elf could pretend to be human**, and it can affect what you're wearing, like make a dress look like a tuxedo, or, or, or opals look like diamonds."_

I'm lazy and the hints are all so subtle and this chapter is way too big already. Just letting you know... Go read Sheena's Problem. It's a million times better than this story, and not as twisted, and has half the filler, 100 less reviews, and the characters act more in character. Because I'm not as attached to it as I am to this one, I find it easier to back and edit all the bullshit. I'm personally beginning to dislike the type of story this is, but that's just because it's an old story now and I'm getting bored with it... almost two years! I am a commitment-phobe and I've committed to this for two years! Do you realize the impossibility of this? I'm already working on the sequel, in fact. I'm not sure if the sequel is going to have as many melodramatic twists as this one, but the type of story it is going to be will be, I hope, a pleasant surprise.

And ZOMG I have more than 100 reviews! Holy COW! I have more reviews than RUNAWAY, which was like my baby! Thank you all so much, especially the constant reviewers who review almost every chapter.


	20. Chapter Twenty, no TITLE

**A/N: I AM NOT DEAD.**

**In other news...**

Seriously, I just have no idea how you guys got those baby ideas from. Anyway, nice guesses. Hopefully with the end of this chapter, you'll be one step closer to knowing the truth of Raine Sage. And speaking of babies, Colette's is going to be a boy! Not that the characters know that, but now there's something you know for certain will happen... because at this point, there's no guarantee that Partners will have a happy ending...

Oh yeah, and the lemon is finished. Gimme a PM if you want to read my crap.

**I am a hostage to my own humanity, self-detained and forced to live in this mess I've made. And all I'm asking is for you to do what you can with me, but I can't ask you to give what you already gave.**

Enjoy.

**OoOoOo**

The door opened and Presea looked up to see Pandora stepping in, lightly shutting the door behind her as she trained her eyes on the gently sleeping figure. "Still out?" she asked, leaning back against the door with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Yeah," Presea said. "How're things on your side?"

"He's still asleep too," Pandora said. "It's been... almost a whole day. Are you sure you don't know what happened?"

Presea shook her head, biting her lower lip before standing up from her seat next to Genis. She stretched her skinny arms high above her head, listening to the symphony of small pops erupting from her back. "Genis started yelling at Matias and his Cruxis Crystal started to act weird. Genis stepped into Matias's bubble and roughed him up a little, and then they just passed out."

Pandora fixed her dark, intense gaze on Genis, lying prone on the bed. Presea tried not to notice, but in the end she glanced sideways at Pandora, muttering, "...You can switch with me, if you like."

Pandora quirked her eyebrows up. "I'm sorry?"

"If you want to look over Genis, I can look over Matias."

"Why would I care either way?" Pandora shook her head in dismissal, but didn't leave the room. "Though I can understand it if _you_ would rather be with Matias. We can switch if you like."

The pink haired girl stopped stretching, whipping her hands back straight to her sides as she smiled thinly at the knight's daughter. "You can't be serious," she said, her voice expressing nothing but the words. "I expected a little more self-control, or at least a better excuse."

Pandora crossed her arms. "I only do what my father expects of me. I have no such obligation to you, Miss Combatir."

"You and Genis," the girl said.

"Yes?"

"You guys are dating."

"Of course not."

Presea knew she held a trump card, but it didn't seem to be working the way she had planned. Growing angry, she decided to put a little bit of force behind her words. Stomping over to Pandora, she arched up on the tips of her toes so that they were almost eye to eye. Her fists were clenched at her side. "Don't act stupid when you know I know everything," she snapped at the older girl who acted so indifferent. "Take the discovery of your indiscretion with a little grace. Accept it. Denying it makes it worse."

Tilting her head to the side, Pandora smiled easily at the little girl. "Yelling isn't very graceful," she pointed out. "But I'm telling you right now, Genis and I aren't dating."

"No?" Presea challenged.

"No," Pandora answered. "He's my consort. Lover. If he were a woman, he'd be my mistress. Unfortunately he is not, and I don't know the male equivalent for what he is. But we're not dating, because we don't go on dates. He's ashamed of me and of himself because he feels he's betraying one of his best friends, and so we hide what we do, behind locked doors." Putting her hands on Presea's upper arms, she held fast to the girl. Bending down to plant a friendly kiss on the cheek as ladies tend to do in court, she smiled into Presea's ear. "So does knowing that make you think you have the upper hand over me, Presea Combatir? Like you can... blackmail me? Like you can..." she pulled back, regarding her with eyes now strangely soft, like the night sky. "...Threaten me?"

Presea shoved her hard enough to make the normally floating half-elf stumble over her own two feet. "Maybe not as much of an upper hand as I thought," she admitted. "I've never met a noble who didn't sweat easily, but I guess dealing with your sort requires some blacker dirt."

"My sort?"

"Your sort of half-elf," Presea said. In sharp contrast to Pandora's placid, far-reaching pools of darkness, Presea's eyes were storm-tossed, gloomy gray oceans. The waves intensified, though the composure on her face hadn't yet broken. "Your sort of noble," she said, with two spots of pink color high on her cheeks. She swept past Pandora and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Pandora stood with her arms crossed again, her eyes closed.

"What a confused child. Too bad, she's cute," she muttered to no one, since Genis was fast asleep.

**OoOoOo**

Raine dreamed.

In her dream, perhaps her imagination had been too tired to play memory games, because there was no eerily familiar family scenes in Virginia's house. Nor were there dreams about the climb up to the Tower of Salvation, of giving her life selflessly, of falling, falling, falling... being caught, and a shimmering of orange wings. Or nightmares, of never being caught, of never seeing an end to all her darkness, only feeling the dead, stale air whush past her face as she looked up, praying to a false Goddess for forever to have her student-turned-hero succeed in his quest. Those were recent nightmares, after the World Reunification was over and the group split apart and Raine began to loose her focus in life. Nightmares that had plagued her since she was a little girl always included falling, too, only this time she had been pushed... and there was no air.

Only salt water.

No, this time she dreamed she was in the very same lobby of the hotel she was staying in with her two newest students, Harley and Mesha. Half-elves, just like her. A temporary focus, a pet project she only recently began to attach her hopes to. She stared up at the out-of-focus ceiling, shimmering in the fog of a dimly remembered locale. She hadn't paid much attention to her surroundings in wakefulness. Sitting up on the couch, she looked up and there he was, waiting for her like he was in all her dreams nowadays. He had his arms at his sides and his posture was relaxed, but she could see his anger like it was a living thing in this world.

"_Hello, Alex," _she murmured, her eyelids heavy.

"**Don't fall asleep,"** he warned her quickly. **"If you fall asleep here, you'll wake up in the real world. You're not in a deep sleep, either, so being too alert will probably wake you up as well. So just... be careful."**

Raine nodded, her movements languid. It was a strange sensation to see when you could actually feel that your eyelids were closed. _"Where am I?" _she asked, dimly aware that she did not like this state of dreamy carelessness.

"**Taking a nap in the hotel lobby," **he said.

She felt a spark of indignation at that, her eyelids opening somewhat. _"I don't take naps," _she said._ "I barely sleep at all."_

"**Your student suggested it, since she knows you don't sleep," **Alex said. The anger radiated stronger than it had before.** "Mesha,"** he said. **"She is what I wanted to talk to you about in the short time we'll have together."**

"_You've already rifled through my memories, what other truths could you possibly want?" _she asked him, sighing. A few gossamer bubbles escaped from her mouth, floating around the room and sparkling prettily, like the wristwatch that dangled from her arm. Already the room was beginning to lose its solidity, already she could feel that she was not upright but lying facedown against the couch, her eyes were closed, and she shouldn't be able to see anything at all.

Alex huffed, his glowing dream-face fuzzy. **"Memories reflect what happened according to what you saw and the prior knowledge you have. They don't have want I want. I want to ask you... **_**why? **_**Why did you take advantage of her last night- she's only a child for the love of Martel."**

Raine smiled, completely unashamed. _"I felt like it. I'm not doing anything terrible to her. She probably enjoys the attention. I'm..."_ she stopped. Her voice was a low mutter, but still very audible in the space that the dream occupied. Guilt began to crawl into her tone, guilt brought on by self-awareness that had only been fuzzy before in this dreaming state. _"I'm... using her. For more than just... that."_ Her head tilted back and she glared at him, the dreaminess suddenly gone, the Professor fully awake and haughty.

"It's my business, and mine alone! Get _out_!"

Raine jerked, sitting up straight on the couch. She looked around the hotel lobby, confused and embarrassed, to see if anyone had heard her. But no... she was alone. Sighing, the Professor brought her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on top of them. A nightmare is all it had been, she told herself. Not that she could remember what it was about. She never remembered what went on at night, dream or nightmare.

Looking at the time on her watch, she realized she'd been asleep for over an hour. Cursing, she shot to her feet and ran out the door, looking around for her students. They had been told to meet her at the memorial just outside the Academy, the fountain that listed the names of all who had died in the Palmacosta disaster almost three years ago.

She slowed as she saw a familiar green head circling the fountain. Mesha walked with her hands clasped behind her back, her normally smiling face introspective as she read one by one the names of the deceased. She looked like she was searching, and apparently found the name she sought. Stopping in front of the fountain, she looked at the name for a very long time until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her in a loose hug. Seeing the familiar blazing orange sleeve, Mesha tensed and flushed but wound up unable to decide whether she wanted to pull away or step closer. She never got a chance to, anyway, because the Professor had let her go.

"Zelos helped with the funds to build this," Raine said, one hand still on Mesha's arm. She was looking up at the fountain, too. "To remember."

"That's good. I had heard about this memorial but never saw it before now. Someone I knew died here," Mesha said, not intending for the words to slip out.

Raine's silver eyebrows went slightly up at that. "Ah," she said, looking now to her student. "I see. I'm sorry."

And then there wasn't anything else to say. The awkward silence was at hand, and Mesha's desperate topic of conversation hadn't done anything to divert it. Raine didn't seem bothered, though, moving to sit on the edge of the fountain. The plaza was empty of students since most were in class at this hour, in their dorms, or trying to wheedle a snack out of the lunch ladies. Mesha quickly followed her, sitting a safe distance away becoming uncertain when Raine bridged that safe distance and gently placed her hand on top of Mesha's. She sneaked a hurried glance at Raine, but the Professor was looking somewhere distant, somewhere pleasant, too, if the serene expression on her face was anything to go by. Mesha looked at her again, this time not turning away so that she could watch the Professor for the first time with these fresh new eyes that had opened only the night before.

"I hope that isn't too forward of me," she said, sounding genuinely concerned as she broke the silence.

"Oh... uh... uh... no." Mesha turned her gaze to her lap, all the while thinking that Raine had already been too forward in kissing her. Raine's hand shifted and her fingers wove nicely in between Mesha's, sending her heart beat spiking in something similar to fear, but not quite. She looked up again at Raine, biting her lower lip.

"How does that feel?" Raine wanted to know, finally looking her in the eyes.

Mesha gave a half-laugh. "Cold," she said.

"What?" Raine's eyebrows furrowed for a moment and then she realized. "Oh- you mean my hand. Sorry." She pulled her hand away, but Mesha grabbed it again, carefully watching Raine's face for a reaction.

After a moment of internal debate, Raine cracked loose a small smile.

"So does this mean-" Mesha started, shifting so that she faced Raine, and scooted closer to her.

"Heh-heh-heh-LOOOOOOH, LADIES!" Harley yowled, barreling in between them to sit with an arm over each of their shoulders. Mesha fumed in silence as Harley kept on; unaware that he had interrupted anything. "So are we ready to get out of here or what? I've been waiting forever for Sleeping Beauty here to wake the hell up." At this last statement he pulled Raine closer to him in a jarring hug, shaking her slightly.

Mesha got to her feet, smoothing out her skirt. "I don't care where we go next," she said. "Harley? Why don't you choose the next city?"

"Asgard," Harley said at once. The two students looked to their teacher and she rolled her shoulders, her palms up to the sky. Harley grinned, sweeping Mesha up in a crushing hug. "Excellent! I need to talk to Linar about some bugs in our _secret weapon_!"

"When exactly are you going to tell us what this secret weapon is, anyhow?" Mesha demanded, wriggling free of him and shooting a concerned glance in Raine's direction. The Professor didn't seem bothered by Harley's displays of affection, though.

"You'll see," Harley said with an unusually enigmatic smile. But it was soon washed away as he grabbed Mesha by her hand, the same hand that Raine had been holding, and dragged her away from the fountain despite her protests. Raine moved to follow them, holding back an amused chuckle. But when she glanced down to check the time, her heart gave a lurch.

On the memorial- the entire memorial- names were carved into the surface. Each name was small, and there were many, but one name couldn't but attract the Professor's attention. A sickeningly familiar name. Leaning closer, she put one hand over the name. The engraving was _very_ small, she saw now- it was a wonder that Mesha or Raine had been able to find it at all, drowned among the names of the dead.

"Raine! Are you coming?"

Raine clenched her fist over the name, not moving. "In a second!" she called back, still gazing at the name she hid, her hand closed as if trying to snatch it away to a place where no one could see it, ever again.

**OoOoOo**

"Oohh, my head hurts…"

Pandora's head shot up. Stumbling to her feet and wincing when she found that one of them had fallen asleep, she went to Genis's bedside and helped him sit up straight, watching his movements intently for any signs of a relapse. "You OK?" she said after a moment, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher at his desk. Genis mumbled something unintelligible and she resisted the urge to dump the contents of the pitcher over his head to wake him up fully and get some answers, reminding herself that he wasn't in the greatest condition right now.

"Where's...?" his cloudy eyes suddenly sharpened. "...Matias!" he snarled, throwing the covers off of him and leaping out of the bed, managing to take three full strides before he began to wobble uncertainly. Pandora followed him, ready to step in in case he fell down.

"What happened?" Pandora asked him, intent on milking what information she could while Genis was still lucid. The way he was acting, he was bound to pass out again. And she wasn't about to be the one to stop an angry, ex-sphere powered half-elf...

Genis pulled on a shirt, weaving his way to the door. "That... _half-elf_..." He fumbled with the buttons on the shirt. "Is my cousin!"

Pandora's eyes widened. She stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"You... heard me...Damn it! Why am I...so... _tired_?" Leaning against the door, he conked his head against the wood a few times, trying to regain his senses. "She... he... That half-elf... Went inside my _head_, Pandora! I was so..." he began to slide down the door, his massive frame crumpling under the exhaustion. "I was so... so...scared...I'd never... never..."

He fell asleep again. Pandora sighed in frustration, carting him back to his bed with some difficulty before tucking him safely back inside. She smoothed his wild blue hair back with one hand, kissed his lips, and then went back to her seat to watch him sleep.

**OoOoOo**

"Whoa there!" Presea said, pressing Matias back into his bed with tiny hands that belied the strength contained within. The pseudo-angel blinked at her, muscles taught with fear. "It's only me," the girl said to him, in soothing tones. "Presea. Remember?"

Matias jerked away, drawing his arms around his chest protectively and shrinking away from her. The scales on his wings rattled with the movements.

"Water?" Presea said, grinning and holding a cup up to his face. "Regal told me and Pandora that you might be dehydrated when you wake up, god knows why. But you probably know, don't you? You gonna write to me, tell me what happened? Or are you going to..." she mimed zipping her lips shut. "Keep your silence?"

The fabric around Matias's mouth stretched as he tried to move his lips in vain, signaling with his hands as he 'spoke'. Presea handed him a paper and pencil that she kept ready for when he woke up, feeling a sick mix of pity and amusement at his attempts at speech.

_I need to speak with Genis again something went wrong last time I dont know what_

"Why did you guys pass out?" Presea asked him.

_Something went wrong,_ he wrote again. Then, looking at the cup Presea was holding, he waved it away, his lilac eyes betraying the sadness he could not voice.

"Oh... right." She put it away. "You uh... can't drink anything?"

Matias mimed a slashing motion, running a finger over where his mouth was hidden under his scarf. Then he held both his hands out, slowly linking his fingers together until his hands were folded as if in prayer.

_It hurts_, he added through the paper._ No matter how many times I cut them they just crawl back into place like worms. I need to speak with Genis and Sheena._

"Yeah," Presea agreed. "But you need to lay still for a whi-"

The room began to shake.

**OoOoOo**

**A/N: **That's it, I can't take it anymore! I'm sorry nothing happens in this chapter, I just can't think of anything else to write! I keep getting stuck when I describe what happens next, so I'll just start fresh next chapter. That always works. I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but a lot of stuff has happened, and I'm working on original fiction as well now. Just... don't give up on this story yet. It's almost over.


	21. Watch

**A/N: ** Enjoy.

**Tell me where our time went and if it was time well spent. Just don't let me fall asleep feeling empty again.**

6,465 words.

**OoOoOo**

**I've figured it out!**

Alex ran up to her, pushing her up against the wall with an angry expression. Scowling at this invasion of personal space, Raine ducked under his caging arms and shot up with a sharp uppercut. Alex spun around, stumbling back a few steps, but otherwise seemed fine since he continued to talk. Maybe they couldn't feel pain in the dream world.

**The only reason you want Mesha is because of her mana**, he accused, rubbing his jaw but keeping a healthy distance from the half-elf, who stood crouched with her feet spread and her fists ready for a second round. **You... you're...**

_You went through my memories again. _Raine relaxed into a normal, non-fighting stance. Her eyes overflowed with disgust.

Alex could only shrug. **Your mistake to leave your thoughts so unguarded when you know I'm here. The Sage family members have unique control over each other and that ****does****include you, Raine. **

_I feel so loved,_she said bitterly

**Don't change the subject! Why didn't you tell me why you really keep Mesha around? Maybe I could help you, if you'd just let me.**

_Because it's none of your business. Why don't you tell me what you're trying to hide from me by placing a bit of your soul into my subconscious to make sure I don't stumble into anything?_

_Alex's lip twitched in a humorless smile. _**But you do know what I'm hiding. You ****asked**** me to hide it from you. You said it would change everything.**

_But if I asked to forget it, why do I want to remember it so badly?_ Raine sat down on the ground, her arms wrapped around her head. _Why do I see you in my dreams every night? Why is it that sometimes I know everything but other times I talk aimlessly, knowing I'm missing a piece of this puzzle but not knowing what it is or where I could ever find it! If you're going to wipe my memory, do a better job! Don't let me remember that you took something from me!_

**Raine... I can't help you with that. If you want to remember- for good this time- you have to do it by your own free will, **he said. **You have all the tools you need. **He began to walk towards her again, cautious this time**. But that's not what really matters right now. You have a serious problem, and I don't think using Mesha-**

_I'm not going to use her_, Raine said, her voice flat. _I've changed my mind._

**What?** Alex blinked in surprise.

_I'm going to do what I told her I was doing. I'm taking her on as my apprentice alongside Harley, until I..._ Raine hid her face again, drawing her knees up to her face and hunching over. _She's been through too much already, and I really do want to help her now, instead of using her to help me,_ she finished.

There was no unnecessary noise in the dreamworld, unless the inhabitants took the time to conjure one up. So Alex made no noise as he walked to her side and sat down, one arm around her shoulder. **You've changed**, he said almost in surprise, turning to her so that he could wipe away stray tears that managed to leak through.** Not so immature anymore, are you Rainebow?**

_I blame Lloyd,_ was Raine's muffled response. _That foolish boy forced me to be less of a bitch._

**Raine...**

_Alex?_

**Please let me help you.**

_No one can help me. But-_

Raine opened her eyes to find that tears were streaming down the sides of her face. Wiping at them with the white sleeve of her nightshirt, she rolled over on her blankets to watch the gently sleeping form of Mesha lying only a few feet away. She was a good girl, Raine decided, her thought muddled from sleep. The maturity of an older woman with the meager life experience of a fifteen year old, even if she was a half-elf. Something about her stirred up tender feelings in Raine, an urge to be with her and protect her. It was strange, because even if she was pretty she wasn't the sort of girl that Raine generally took an interest in. For one thing, they had to at least be _legal_. And well able of taking care of themselves without any help from a self-centered lesbo teacher, thankyouverymuch.

(_Like Sheena,_ she couldn't help but think. But the scholar soon squashed that thought.)

Sighing again, she shifted under her blankets, trying to find a comfortable spot to try and fall asleep, though she doubted she would get another hour of rest tonight. She glanced at her wristwatch, checking the time. Just a little bit past midnight, a days worth of travel left to get to Asgard. She turned again, but only to almost jump out of her skin to see that Mesha was facing her now with her emerald green eyes wide open.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Mesha asked. "I heard you talking in your sleep."

"Ah..." Raine sat up, rubbing at her eyes. "I can't remember. I don't think I did."

"Mmm." Mesha's eyelids drooped. "OK, then." And without further ado, she nodded off again. Raine sweatdropped, turning away again. Light sleeper, but could fall back with simply a whim.

Raine let her thoughts wander aimlessly for a while, staring at the wall of her tent when she was startled yet again by a loud hiss. She looked over her shoulder to see Mesha dragging her mat across the grass, plopping it down right next to Raine's. Settling down, the sleepy half elf girl snuggled up next to her teacher. "S'cold," she muttered against Raine's shoulder, hugging her around the waist.

Raine had to bite back a surprised laugh. "Are you sure you're comfortable with this?" she asked instead, keeping her voice calm as she turned to face her student. She wrapped her arms around Mesha's shoulders and neck, one hand in Mesha's green hair and her chin resting on the top of Mesha's head.

Mesha nodded a few times. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"No reason!" Raine said, somewhat indignant at how cheerful her voice sounded.

And, closing her eyes, she went back to sleep.

No specters haunted her dreams- just the ending to an unfinished sentence.

_But I won't let that stop me any longer._

**OoOoOo**

The ground began to shake.

"Who-o-a," Presea said, her voice vibrating with the room. She lost her balance, lurching forward and managing to catch herself before she tumbled on top of Matias on his bed. "Wha-a-a-at's hhhhhaaapening?" she shouted over the increasing noise. Matias could only shrug helplessly, getting up on unsteady feet as the sounds of roaring water joined into the cacophony of rumbling earth. He made his way to the window, Presea following as they looked out to the confusing view that the ocean presented them.

"Is that-"

Presea stopped, squinting to make sure. "Oh my g- it _is _her! What the hell is she doing?"

Matias fumbled around in his pockets, pulling his ragged coat off the bed and searching it as well. Eventually he found what he sought- gels. Quickly applying them and looking instantly refreshed, he extended one hand to Presea, pointing with the other out the open window.

**OoOoOo**

"If you gotta make a pit stop, now's the time to say it!" Gnome chirped from his spot on Sheena's shoulder. Now in the form of a scruffy brown-furred rat, he nipped at her ear as he broke his concentration for a moment. The island slowed considerably as they were now within eyesight of Altamira, but they still motored along at quite an impressive speed.

She sat on a sizable chunk of earth that stormed through the ocean like a never ending wave always on the verge of crashing. They moved faster than Rheiards, the tangy sea air buffeting against her loose hair like a silky black pirate flag. "We can't afford to stop!" she called out over the wailing wind, spitting out a spray of salt water as she did so. "Martel herself warned us of danger, and right now I need to make sure my village is on alert."

"Ummmm OK!" he said, backing up on her shoulder until he was precariously close to falling off. "But it looks like the pit stop is coming to us, baby."

Confused, Sheena squinted over the spray to see a black blob steadily growing closer. A black blob with a bright shock of pink splattered across it. It didn't take long for her sharp ninja eyesight to pick out the details and let out a frustrated noise.

"_Matias_!" she snarled. "And he has Presea!"

"_Heeeeyyyyyyy_!" the girl in question called out to them, waving both her arms widely. Matias was carrying her in his long arms, purple eyes calm as he pulled back, flapping his wings carefully as he slowed for a decent, landing lightly on the tips of his toes. Presea vaulted from his arms and ran to Sheena, hugging her tightly around the waist.

"Ewww, you're all wet," Presea said after a moment, letting Sheena go and wiping her hands on her shorts.

"Well, my mistress thinks that speed is a priority over comfort," Gnome said, shrugging as best as he could with his rat shoulders. "Now... can we keep them Sheena? Please? They're following us home and I'm sure they're paper trained."

Sheena didn't even bop him on the nose for being pert. She was too busy examining Matias, sizing him up and judging whether or not he was there to make trouble. He held up his hands in a gesture for peace, stepping back and letting his wings shrink to fold neatly behind his back.

_I'm sorry, _Matias sent to her. His mental voice echoed in her mind caused her to shiver- she had forgotten what it felt like. _It seems you know the truth on your own now. I wanted to break it to you slowly, cousin._

"Oh, shut up," she growled, averting her gaze. The mana emanating from her fellow half-elf was making her eyes water and her mouth dry.

"Jeez, fine," Gnome said, misunderstanding her. He hopped to her feet to sulk in silence.

_There may be some physical changes as well... _Matias mused. _For instance, your hair might change color._

Sheena blinked a few times, rubbing at her eyes. Not looking at Matias didn't do much, since she could still feel his chaotic mana like a cloud hovering around the immediate area. "I said be quiet!"

"I _am_ being quiet!" Gnome wailed, clutching at her leg and pressing his face against it.

"Oh- Gnome." Realizing what her conversation would have sounded like out loud, she bent down and held the rat, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean you."

She glared at Matias.

"You mean you can _hear_ him?" Presea asked incredulously. "So can Genis!"

Matias shrugged.

"Yeah, I hear him," Sheena admitted. "It's because of a lot of really random factors that I don't feel like explaining right now. Now, why shouldn't I lock you up with your buddy Kloitz?" This last statement was directed back at Matias, along with a cold, burning glower.

_I've done nothing for you to act so hostile towards me._

"You've attacked me!"

_I've saved you, too._

"Whatever," Sheena snapped, irritated. "I don't need a reason. I don't trust you and if you don't like it, tough. What do you want from me and my friends?"

_Firstly, I wanted to warn you of Kloitz. He's planning to escape; he has strong allies and isn't afraid of using dirty tactics. _

Sheena cursed under her breath. "That must be a part of the danger Martel warned us about," Gnome added, whispering in her ear. She nodded, scratching the back of his ear.

_Secondly, you must be familiar with Kloitz's servant Kuchinawa. I understand he was a member of your tribe. He used ancient shinobi arts on me and sewed my lips together magically so that I can't speak and can't remove them for longer than five minutes. I want you to help undo the spell._

Sheena didn't know what to say to that. It went against her nature to let someone suffer unduly, but...

"Only if you answer a few more questions," she said, steeling herself. "And only once we know this Kloitz problem is done for good. Understand?"

Matias nodded rapidly. His purple eyes glittered with their own savage light._ I'll kill him with my bare hands if that's what it takes, cousin._

Making a face, Sheena put Gnome back onto the earth. "Fine then. And just because I'm a..." she stopped, glancing once at Presea. "...Just cause I'm_ that way_ now doesn't mean you can try to use that to make me like you better, so stop calling me your cousin. I'm not your freaking cousin, or anything like it."

_But you are. _

"No, I'm not." Sheena frowned.

_Yes, you are._ Annoyed.

"No, I'm- listen, that's impossible," Sheena snapped, feeling the sickness that dread brought her beginning to stir. "I'm not."

_You are. So is Genis. I.. the reason I've been following you for the past eight months is because I suspected. I wanted to see what you were like, if you were like me..._

Sheena turned away. "You must be mistaken. There's no way I'm your cousin. There's no way Genis is my cousin, cause then that would mean Kloitz is..." Sheena's mouth went dry with another realization. "And Raine..." she croaked, shuddering. "No. I mean, we don't even look similar. If you were to tell me Pandora is my cousin, well, that wouldn't be so surprising. Pandora doesn't know her elfin ancestors and neither do I, and we do look really kinda like sisters so-"

Sheena stopped, realizing she was rambling. Clapping a hand to her face, she growled, "Listen. I have something very important to do, so if you guys are staying with me that means I'm the boss, no questions, no backtalk. You got it?"

"Aye aye captain!" Presea said, saluting her cheerfully. Matias bowed low, making no further comment on the cousin issue.

"_You_ are not going anywhere."

The familiar hum of a Rheiard engine was suddenly present to their ears. Regal sat astride a massive light blue Rheiard, his side facing them as he glared at Presea from over his shoulder. "I almost had a heart attack when I saw you jumping out the window with him," he said, and Sheena could see it was a struggle for the man not to start shouting. "Get on the Rheiard."

"I-"

"I don't want to hear a single word of your lying excuses, I've had enough of that for two lifetimes!" Regal boomed, losing his carefully cultivated control. "Get on this Rheiard, NOW."

The small rock island was shocked into silence as Presea meekly hopped aboard. "Do as you please with him," were Regal's curt directions on Matias before he roared off, long blue hair flapping in the wind.

"Jeebus," Gnome said. "There's not a lot of things scarier than a big, angry man."

"Especially when the man is Regal," Sheena agreed, shaking her head. "I guess uh... I guess it's just us three now."

_Where are we headed?_

"Mizuho," Sheena answered.

_Then let us make haste._

**OoOoOo**

"Ken-kun?"

Ken jumped, startled by the girl's stealthy approach. "KYA!" he shouted, leaping back and clumsily trying to find some semblance of a fighting pose before realizing his 'attacker' was a ten year old girl. "Oh- er... Hello there, Kyoko-chan," he answered in Mizanese. He squinted at her, trying to see her in the gloom. It was just after sundown, and he had been training hard. He wiped off the sweat from his brow with the edge of his sleeve. "What's the matter?"

Kyoko absently placed a plate of rice balls in front of him. "I thought that Ken-kun might be hungry because you missed dinner to go practice here."

"Aww, thanks kid," Ken said, stuffing one of the treats into his mouth. "Nice of you to do that for me."

"Nee-san was a lot like you before the old chief exiled him," Kyoko sighed. "I would often do that for him as well."

Ken almost choked on his rice ball. "Ahem, right."

Tiga's household had become something of a home for lost souls. Last year during the strange attack led by the half-elf Kloitz, the old vice-chief had taken in a young girl named Aiko. Now, with her exile withdrawn by the new chief Sheena, the sister of the traitor Urashima had also found a home with Tiga. And since Tiga often coached the young foreign man in the matters of Mizuho, Ken saw a lot of the two girls and they had both cemented their place in his easy-going heart.

"_Kyoko-chan!"_

Kyoko's head shot up. "That's Aiko-chan," the solemn girl said, her brow furrowing. "She sounds distressed."

The girl soon came into the pair's sight, running as fast as her little legs could take her. "Kyoko-chan! Kyoko-chan! Sheena-onee-sama has returned!"

"Really?!" Ken and Kyoko said at the same time. They took off, but Ken's longer legs soon left the two little girls in the dust as he ran to the main gates of Mizuho to spot the familiar purple-clad ninja.

"Sheena! Hey, welcome back!" he called to his friend, the chief. Once he reached her- already busy in conversation with Tiga and Orochi- he stooped over, clutching at his knees to suck in huge breaths. "How was... your.. trip... Sheena?"

Tiga smacked the back of his head. "Sheena-_sama_," he corrected the young man.

Sheena grabbed Tiga's hand, sparing Ken a brief, distracted smile. "Forget about that right now, Tiga. I need you to answer my questions."

The old vice-chief slowly stood up straighter, bringing his hand back to his side. "Nothing has been amiss since you left, Fujibayashi-sama. No threats have reached these old ears."

"Or these young ones," Orochi added. Oddly enough, he wasn't wearing his traditional ninja garb today- his black hair and pale face were completely bare. Maybe she had woken him up? She had arrived at the time when most respectable townspeople should be asleep at home.

"How many guards are posted around the village?" Sheena continued.

"Ah... I would have to say-"

"Double the number, whatever it may be," Sheena cut him off before he could even answer. "Effective immediately. I want this town on full alert, I want a few select shinobi out scouting for trouble before it comes to us. Do you understand me, Tiga?"

"Do you know something we don't, Sheena?" Orochi asked, his hands in his pockets. Despite the tense situation, he was completely at ease. It was different from his normal, rock-solid poker face- it was almost as if he was amused by all of this. She didn't know why, but it irked her and disturbed her at the same time.

"Yes, I do," she responded, her voice clipped and curt. "I know trouble is coming. I don't know what shape or form it might take, but trust me when I say that things are going to get interesting within the next few months... or maybe even weeks."

"Or days?" he suggested. Something about his tone of voice implied he was teasing her, as if he didn't quite believe she was acting so foolishly.

Sheena paused. "Yes... I suppose that's not impossible either. Excuse me."

Having had quite enough, she brushed past Orochi, Tiga, and Ken without another word. She headed towards her house, wondering if Ken had watered her plants like she had asked him to. Matias was waiting for her inside when she got there, sitting on the edge of her low, knee-high table with his violet eyes trained on the floor.

"Well... My village is warned," she said, standing in the doorway. Once more she was no longer Sheena, chief of Mizuho, but Sheena. Just Sheena. And right now, Sheena wanted nothing more than to curl up on her cot and fall into a deep, deep sleep.

"Would you like some tea?"

Matias shook his head, slowly unwinding his scarf to show her the damage. Sheena, despite herself, felt a deep plunge of pity and guilt for the pseudo-angel. "Let me see," she said, going closer to him and gently brushing her fingers against his lips. He could have been handsome but for that loathsome black stitching, frayed and worn in places around his badly infected lips. Handsome, or more like girlishly pretty. He had the face of a young boy, clean-shaved and innocent. If she had first seen him without knowing his gender, well, she probably would have guessed he was actually a girl. She frowned at the thought.

"This is definitely Kuchinawa's work," she said after forcing herself to look at it for longer than she wanted or needed to. "He's brutal and sloppy when it comes to torture and punishment. When did this happen, and why? Can you tell me that?"

Matias had kept his eyes averted but met her gaze when she talked to him.

_I wanted to see Kloitz,_ he admitted. _I thought... I thought he died almost three years ago, when Rodyle's ranch was destroyed. After finding him, I watched him and then I started to watch you. Eventually, I decided it was time to act and I tried to contact him via his servant, Kuchinawa, since he was in jail at that time. At first it was fine, but I learned that they were plotting my death together. Kloitz even showed him where to find some of my father's old inventions to help the job go along smoother. _

Matias began to wrap the scarf back around his head, his eyes closed in recollection

_But he wanted to do it hands on. He captured me, did this to me... I don't know what he would have done next if I hadn't escaped. Only then did he send all of my father's remaining creatures after me, like the one you saw that night over the ocean._

_As for the why, I... I wish I knew, and I wish again that I remain ignorant. All I can say is the Kloitz I knew as a child would have never..._

He stopped again.

_Where shall I sleep tonight?_ He asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Sheena looked to Gnome, who was greeting his old friend- the potted plant. He was in his bipedal mole form again. After a moment of heavy thinking, she went to her closet and pulled out another futon. Slamming it down on the opposite side of the room, she pointed to it with a neutral expression. "Right here," she said. "And if you pull any funny business you'll be dead before you hit the floor, bird-boy."

_I understand_, he sent to her._ I know that right now, you have no reason to trust me, but let me assure you that-_

Sheena, concentrating hard on how he had blocked her out when they had met in Triet, visualized an old, wrought-iron gate slamming shut with Matias on the other side, holding onto the bars and looking into the fortress of her mind. The mental speech was cut off so sharply she was almost lost at the sudden silence in her mind. Matias was taken aback, blinking owlishly at the grinning Sheena.

She pointed to him. "You're not the only one with powers anymore," she said to him, her lips quirking up. "Man, you weren't lying when you said you like to hear yourself talk. That what you wrote... in that note. In Flanoir."

Matias, of course, could not respond. He stood with his hands at his sides, looking lost, before settling down on the futon she had provided for him. But not before giving her a quick little bow of thanks. Sheena wondered if he was only being polite to her because she could take off the stitching, but didn't think on it long. Though it took her awhile to relax, eventually she fell asleep in her own futon with Gnome always watching over her, curled up next to her in the form of a large brown wolf.

**OoOoOo**

"Now, either we can sit here in an uncomfortable, awkward silence, or we can talk."

Zelos sat, looking around him expectantly at everyone.

He gave up soon.

"Man, it feels like we've been waiting for this boat for weeks," he said, deciding to fill the silence in himself. "Oh... I hope that doesn't break the fourth wall..." he mused right after he had said that, but no one seemed to pay him any mind.

"I can see it approaching," Kratos spoke up. He stood overlooking the ocean, his keen seraph eyes unblinking as he waited for their escape. "It should be here within the hour."

Yuan stood with his back to a lamp post with Zelos's Dragon Tours insignia branded on it. He watched Colette and Lloyd sitting not far away, his metal claw twitching every now and then as if it, too, was getting bored by the calm. "Hopefully we can get away from this island and find Sheena, since she apparently has a plan for this new threat."

Kratos glanced at Yuan out of the corner of his eye. "Yuan, without a plan to turn things to his benefit? This is a first."

The silver haired half elf shrugged uncomfortably. "What do you expect from me? I wasn't even here for the original threat to the world... or at least, I don't remember it. Right now all I'm concerned with is getting this problem over with so we can concentrate on getting my memory back. Also, I think you should all know that I've taken it upon myself to become Colette's official shadow."

He turned his smirk on the girl. "And don't you feel special now?"

"Shadow?" Lloyd voiced for both of them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll explain it to you in simpler terms, Lloydie. Martel told me I should be nicer to the girl, and so I figure since she's particularly delicate right now I should put _this_ to good use." He hefted up his glittering, sharp claw for them to see.

"Um, thank you Yuan," Colette said, putting one hand over Lloyd's.

"What, I can't protect you well enough?" Lloyd muttered under his breath.

"Are you saying you're going to refuse a command from the _Goddess_, Lloydie?" Yuan said, putting one claw over his mouth in mock shock.

Lloyd's eyebrow twitched. "...Why the heck are you calling me Lloydie?" he demanded, choosing not to answer Yuan's question.

Yuan shrugged. "I really don't know. It just seemed amusing at the time, Lloydie."

"The boat is picking up speed," Kratos called out suddenly. "It might be here sooner than I thought."

"Yeah, well it won't be soon enough," Lloyd said.

"We could go see those flowers now," Colette reminded him gently, trying to stop anything from getting out of hand. "The last time was just a fluke. Sheena's not here now so no other summon spirits are gonna attack, right?"

Lloyd struggled with himself for a moment, torn between wanting to sit and sulk and wanting to please his young wife. Laboriously, he got to his feet and grabbed his swords, fastening them to his hips. "Sure thing, Colette. Better than the company here anyway." Helping her to her feet, he held Colette's hand and they made their way- alone- towards the field of flowers.

Yuan stayed where he was, his eyes closed and his head bowed as a man who had fallen asleep does.

"Not being a very good shadow, are you?" Kratos noted.

"Heh." Yuan's eyelids flicked open and his upper lip curled up in a vicious smile after the pair. "You're not supposed to notice your own shadow."

Only then did he slip off after them, his feet making no noise on the green earth.

Zelos looked up at Kratos from his seat on a bed of moss. "So..." he said, waggling his red eyebrows. "We're alone now. Wanna make out?"

Kratos's eyelids shot up in a rare expression of shock. Then his features crinkled in disgust and he turned his back on the red head, the square set of his shoulders saying clearly enough that he was going to ignore the ex-Chosen for the remainder of their time together, however long that may be.

"OK," Zelos said, smiling. "Maybe some other time!"

Kratos suppressed a shudder.

**OoOoOo**

Maybe it was because she made peace with her mysterious demons that haunted her conscious and subconscious mind. Maybe it was because of Mesha, of their budding romance and the sense of security that could sometimes bring to a woman. Maybe it was because for the first time in a long time, she got a full night's rest and woke up refreshed.

But when she did wake up, Raine Sage had an epiphany.

It wasn't immediately. When her eyes opened she saw nothing but Mesha's green head and she smiled to herself (after squashing thoughts of seeing nothing but messy black hair put up in a bun). Shifting to get more comfortable without waking up the light sleeper, she let her eyelids slowly drop again, holding Mesha closer to her.

Then the tent was flooded with sunlight as Harley barged in. "Hey Professor!" he shouted, "Wake up, we gotta get going if we wanna reach Asgard by sundo- wha!"

Raine had shot up from the two cots, leaping over Mesha's small form to shove Harley out of the tent, feeling as though her whole body was tingling unpleasantly with little electric sparks. Her heart beat faster, unable to cope with the idea of anyone finding out about her and Mesha just yet.

"Harley," she said between grit, scarily smiling teeth. She clenched at his shirt and he shrank, trying to distance himself from the onslaught. "Do not. Barge into my tent." She began to shake him to emphasize her point. "_Without warning me first!_"

Harley, thoroughly cowed, could only nod over and over again. After a moment Mesha came out of the tent as well, clearing her throat and busily trying to get her mop of green hair into some semblance of order.

"Uh, well, Harley does have a point. We should definitely break camp and head out, right Professor?" she said, putting a hand on Raine's shoulder. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Oh, how should I know?" she muttered irritably, unleashing Harley and taking a few deep, calming breaths. Massaging her temple, she closed her eyes.

Harley ventured to speak. "Uh, cause you have a watch and we don't?"

Raine's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, I have a watch? I don't have a-" she raised up her hand to brush a strand of her wild silver hair out of her face and froze.

On her wrist was a watch.

She'd never seen that watch before... had she? But even as she reassured herself that she didn't own a watch, the times she had already used it went flashing through her mind.

_Wordlessly she checked the time on a large man's watch that dangled from her delicate wrist. "It's almost noon," she said, standing up and walking to where their Rheiards were sitting, waiting patiently to be flown. "We should leave soon."_

_Looking at the time on her watch, she realized she'd been asleep for over an hour. Cursing, she shot to her feet and ran out the door, looking around for her students. They had been told to meet her at the memorial just outside the Academy, the fountain that listed the names of all who had died in the Palmacosta disaster almost three years ago. _

Mesha and Harley exchanged glances as Raine continued to stare at the watch, her eyes wide in incomprehension. "Harley," Raine finally said, "Do you remember where I bought this watch?"

"Nope," he said, inching away from his teacher. "I think you've always had it. I just... well, it's just been kinda there. Never jumped out at me, y'know?"

Raine frowned, her mind running full time on this unnecessarily confusing problem. She knew she didn't "always have it" like Harley said. And that was disturbing- she didn't know when she had it, since obviously her own memory couldn't be trusted if she didn't even realize it was there in the first place. It was just a watch, true, but the fact that she never truly noticed it until someone pointed it out was more than strange.

She remembered the day, almost nine months ago now, when she saw Kloitz again for the first time in years. He had been attacking Mizuho with those soldiers- probably remnants of the Desians, she knew now- and somehow he noticed Sheena's magically hidden pendant, the one that had always been there but no one ever saw. It was like that, she figured. Some magic. But who had casted a spell on her? And why? Ignoring her students completely, she turned and walked back into her tent, moving Mesha's cot a more respectable distance from hers and then sitting down without ever taking her eyes off the watch.

Watch, she thought. Watch. Was it some sort of riddle for her to decipher? What did a watch represent? Slowly taking it off, she dangled it in front of her curious lilac eyes. She observed the sunlight reflect off it's pretty silver surface. It was a man's watch, for sure. Big and bulky, meant for a strong, thick wrist.

The sentiment that there was some hidden meaning in the watch only grew stronger as the minutes ticked by and she did her best to ignore the way her students hovered outside her tent, wondering if their teacher had finally gone off the deep end over a stupid watch. Watch. Time. Time going by. Lost time? Too obvious. Not time. Not...

Watch. Watch. She closed her eyes, squeezing the watch tighter in her hand. She could feel it, there on the tip of her tongue. Easing it's way out, but then suddenly snapping back inside before her mind could securely wrap around the concept of what she was trying to remember. She opened her eyes again, letting them roam, searching for inspiration. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the pocket dictionary Mesha bought when they were in Meltokio. More and more she felt the idea growing in density, fleshing itself out, logically spreading out before her.

Of course!

"Watch"!

Not the noun, not this physical thing that caused her so much consternation- there was more than one definition for watch! The verb! The action! To watch... but watch what? Watch the... watch? Feeling on the verge of something monumental, she brought the silver timepiece closer to her face, eyes roving over every inch of it to find the secret she know _knew_ lay inside.

It didn't take the fabled Professor long to find the secret compartment. Her heart beating, she reached inside and pulled out a small scrap of parchment with more writing- more riddles.

"You have the tools you need," it read. "Sage can only help you find Ignorance. Ignorance is bliss. Maturity demands sacrifice, Knowledge claims innocence and happiness. Decide for yourself. If you want to find it, Misery loves company. Find it where it congregates."

"Decide?" Raine whispered to the note, clenching it hard between her shaking hands. She got that feeling again- she knew she had just forgotten something, but she didn't know what. She chased it in her mind, struggling to remember, trying to reclaim the train of thought she had been following to see if she could find this missing memory. "Decide what? What is that supposed to... _Fuck_!" In a rare moment of pure distress, the Professor caught herself cursing, clasping her hands to her head and crouching over, fighting to make sense of all of this.

But only a few seconds later she strode through the tent flap out into the open, cool as you please. She held the note loosely in one hand and the watch was back where it had lived for who knew how long- back on her wrist.

"Harley," she said, smiling thinly. "Mesha. I have a question for you two."

Without waiting for a response, she turned abruptly to her left and began to pace, one, two, three steps and then doing an about-face, one, two, three steps. "You've heard the saying, "Ignorance is bliss," she said as she paced back and forth, and odd light glimmering in her eyes. "So, knowing that, would you choose to be a happy idiot or a sobering, stuffy intellectual?"

Again not waiting for them to answer, she stopped her pacing and faced them, her smile completely without humor.

"Tell me," she prompted them, spreading out her hands as if to receive any answers with warm, welcome arms. "Where do stuffy intellectuals congregate?"

But of course, she didn't need them to answer. She'd already had her epiphany.

Their next destination was clear in her mind.

**OoOoOo**

**A/N:** It's getting harder and harder to sit down and write these chapters. Sorry for the long wait, people. You guys are better than I deserve D: Perhaps an explanation is in order. In the time that I set down to write I don't work on Partners anymore. I work on my original fiction, "Immortal Games" about three girls, three freaks, one boy, one vampire, a unicorn, a were-lion, and a dragon who are all connected to each other through enemies and ex-lovers, families and old friends. There's also a conspiracy, attempted genocide, a genesis, the prevention of war, the disruption of the flow of time, a journey to find home, and the decision whether or not to believe in true love.

Phew!

So how did you like all the needless Japanese suffixes? Just to let you know... cause they're just not Japanese enough in the game. They need to be SOOPER DUPER JAPANESE. No mistaking them for average people, ho no! So wow. Raine is officially a pedo-bear. If Mesha doesn't cool it, Rainie here might end up going to jail for statutory rape! And has Raine finally gotten over Sheena? Will Matias keep pretending to be a man? Didn't Orochi get stabbed with a big-ass needle? Who's side is Alex on, anyway? What the hell was up with that trippy note? How many other people didn't notice the watch- the watch that only appeared AFTER Alex wiped the three's memories! By the way, the watch also makes an appearance in the spoof chapter fifteen. "Can't it wait an hour or three?" Haha.. awesome. Chapter thirteen is still my favorite though.

All these and more, NEXT TIME, ON PARTNERS!

(Closed captioning sponsored by Doctor Emmet Brown's Time Train- "Get where you want to be, when you want to be there!")


	22. Discovery

**A/N: Hand into a fist- Static in my head. Now I'm sitting face-to-face with loneliness. What did I expect? Did I see forever in YOU?!?**

**I've decided I'm going to change Raine's theme song from "November Rain" by Guns N'Roses to to "Three Simple Words" by Finch.**

Enjoy- Review if you want, review if you don't, but either way I'm still gonna get to write and have fun :3.

(read that again, why don't you...)

**OoOoOo**

Sheena dreamed of an angel with pearly, gossamer energy wings rising into the sky. Sheena stood on the earth, taking a few steps back to look up at the nameless figure rising into the heavens, feeling her dread grow with every second they were apart. She fought the panic threatening to bubble to the surface, looking around her as if there might be a staircase handy to let her follow the winged being. Leaping after the figure, she called Gnome and Sylph to her side to nullify gravity and to steer her through the velvet, violet night sky.

When Sheena was finally close enough to grab the angel, it shrank back out of reach and turned around to stare at her with blank, dead eyes. The wind blew from behind the figure, whipping flecks of warm wetness onto Sheena's face. She wiped at her forehead, looking down in numb shock at the crimson smear on her shaking hand. Suddenly, she was on the ground again, kneeling in a sterile white room. The angel groaned, falling into Sheena's arms. It seemed impossible that any body could have so much blood in them- spreading to surround them both, caked under her fingernails... drenching the angel's short, wild hair.

But there had to be a way to stop this... Sheena pressed her hands to the wound, trying to stem the blood flow before any more could be lost. But there wasn't any more. The dry husk in her hands was gone- dead. Cold. The body dried and turned to dust, flying away from her grasping hands, swirling and dancing away through the night. She sat alone in the puddle of blood, tasting salt and rust as her tears washed down her cheeks, residues of blood mingling inside her mouth.

Sheena jerked into wakefulness, a wonderfully rich and meaty smell wafting in from the direction of her kitchen. Her heart heavy from a nightmare she didn't understand, she yawned, rolling off of her cot onto the hard floor, looking around for Gnome. The summon spirit was nowhere to be found. Getting to her feet, she cautiously approached the kitchen to find Matias skillfully handling three sizzling frying pans: bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Gnome- an obese brown cat once more- sat at the low table with a large red kerchief wrapped around his neck, looking cuter than he had any right to be as he waited with large, eager eyes for Matias to serve him a plate.

"Forget Orochi," he gushed when he noticed Sheena. "Marry this guy. He cooks me breakfast."

Sheena didn't dignify that with an answer, waiting at the entrance to the kitchen as Matias turned around with a spatula held in both hands, shuffling his wings awkwardly. The pseudo-angel motioned to the table, holding up an empty plate in a silent question.

"Yeah, sure," Sheena said slowly, moving to the table. Kneeling at her table, she found a place where she could keep Matias in her sight at all times. Dark feathers and scales rattling, the mute in question turned back to the stove. Sheena's stomach rumbled as she watched Gnome slam his face straight into the pile of food on his plate- now that she was fully awake, she could appreciate how good that breakfast smelled. A string of scrambled egg plopped in front of Sheena, breaking her thoughts. She picked it up and tossed it back on Gnome's plate in disgust.

"Can you even eat?" she asked.

"Of course I can," Gnome said, looking up at her and licking his jowls. "I just don't have to in order to survive."

Matias cleared his throat, stepping into the conversation as he held up an egg for Sheena to see. Tired of playing charades, Sheena sighed and opened the mental barrier she had set up against the pseudo angel.

_How do you like your eggs?_ The mute sent her.

_Sunny side up, _she sent back._ No pancakes, please._

"So what now, Sheena?" Gnome asked, hopping onto the table to lick his plate clean. "Do we wait around for trouble to come knocking on the gate? I mean, Martel wasn't exactly being a fountain of information back there. For all we know, Kloitz isn't even the enemy we're going to be facing!"

Matias, hearing the familiar name, tried to make it seem like he wasn't eavesdropping as he added seasoning to the egg and dropped a few slices of bacon onto it, scraping the steaming dish onto a plate and setting it down before Sheena. After cleaning up the utensils he had used, he moved to a corner of the room and sat with his back to the wall, watching the two converse.

"Well, what else could it be?" Sheena said, thoughtfully spearing a piece of egg with her chopsticks. Not the best tool, but Sheena didn't keep any forks in her house since she hadn't been eating non-traditional Mizanese foods as of late. "If there's a new threat to Aselia besides Kloitz, I'd say we're screwed."

She paused, looking down at her breakfast. "This is really good," she said softly.

_Thank you._

Shifting so that he was in her sight again, she turned the attention of the conversation to Matias. "And what about you?" she asked. "For a high and mighty Desian, you're being awfully helpful to me."

_I have a score to settle with Kloitz, _Matias answered, shaking his scales fluttering angrily. _He should have died years ago. Now it is my intention to end him, to send him to where he belongs so his suffering will end._

"All right, then," Sheena said, pushing her half-eaten breakfast aside. "I think this has a very simple solution."

"I'm all ears," Gnome said.

"Bastard or not, I know Genis wants to protect Kloitz. So I'm going to leave Mizuho in Orochi's charge for a few days," she said, "I'll go to Meltokio, sneak into the prison, and kill Kloitz in his sleep. Problem solved- no one has to even know it was me."

Matias clenched his fists but remained silent.

"I was an assassin before I was ever chief," she kept on. "This is easy for me, and if I cut off the snake's head the body will die. There won't be time for this problem to escalate like it did with Mithos and Cruxis..." she added dryly, glancing at Matias "...and the Desians."

_We were only a problem for the humans who looked at us with loathing in their eyes,_ Matias said in what sounded like a defensive tone.

"Tell that to Marble," Sheena said under her breath, but no one heard her. Or if they did, they chose not to comment.

_Tok tok tok tok!_

Sheena looked up, hearing a sharp rapport at the door. "Who is it?" she called out.

"Orochi," came the familiar, deep voice.

"Hold on a sec," she said, trying to tidy the place as she spoke. "I'll be there in a- _Orochi_!"

Without waiting for an invitation, Orochi had walked through the door past Sheena and made himself comfortable at the table. "This looks delicious," he declared, helping himself to Sheena's leftovers. Steaming, Sheena walked back into the kitchen with him, noting that he wasn't wearing his traditional shinobi gear today, either. "I hope you don't mind if I...?"

"Nah, I wasn't gonna eat it anyway," Sheena said, waving dismissively at him. "You could have waited for me to open the door," she added. "I could have been naked for all you know."

"You're right," Orochi said, trying to sound admonished around the bacon in his mouth. "That would have been terrible. Did you cook this?"

Matias rattled his wings for attention, since so far Orochi hadn't even noticed the silent shadow crouching in the corner of the room. When his eyes sought out the noise, he froze, almost choking on his food. Leaping to his feet and flipping a knife out from nowhere, he backed off from the figure.

Gnome giggled from his place at the table, slapping one paw in the egg juice on his plate and then sucking on it.

"Calm down, Orochi," Sheena said, sighing. "He won't hurt you. Him and I have a.. deal."

"_Him_?" Orochi echoed in disbelief, sizing Matias up once the half-elf had gotten to his feet. Matias nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Still, Orochi would not sit until Sheena snuck up behind him and kicked his feet out from under him, sliding the cushion-chair over so that her fiancée would land comfortably.

"Yes, him," Sheena said, snatching the knife away and holding out the plate of half-eaten food. "Get used to it." Normally she wouldn't have used such harsh words to Orochi, but he hadn't been acting his usual, chivalrous self today. Orochi silently took the plate, polishing it off as he listened to Sheena.

"I'm leaving again for Meltokio," she said. "Once more I see it fit to leave you in charge of Mizuho's affairs."

"But you only returned last night..." Orochi frowned.

"Only because I had to make sure Mizuho was on alert for danger. But my duties as chief now force me to leave once more in order to ensure the safety of my people."

Orochi put his plate aside, standing up. "Then I must speak with you before you go," he said. Glancing at Matias, he added: "Alone."

**OoOoOo**

"Well, here we are!" Raine declared, gazing around the Sybak library with a pleased smile. It was unusual behavior, but she had been smiling a lot more recently. Neither Mesha nor Harley could discover what it was that put her in such a good mood. Secretly, Mesha wanted to believe it was because Raine was happy to be with her, but she knew better than to think that.

In fact, Raine hadn't really been paying much attention to her at all since they set out for Sybak. Doubt grew in the girl's heart, and she wondered if it was something she had done or said to make Raine come to her senses and realize someone as beautiful and wonderful as her didn't belong with a fifteen year old. Though she didn't want this relationship to be over before it even began, Mesha grew more and more certain that Raine had gotten over whatever insanity drove her to kiss Mesha that night.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Harley drawled, upset that they hadn't gone to Asgard like he had planned.

"I have no idea!" Raine said with a smirk. "I'm winging it, dear apprentice. For all I know, what I need isn't even here."

"A quest without a plan?" Harley asked. "How unlike the Professor."

"Then perhaps you don't know the Professor as well as you thought," she shot back, though she didn't sound upset. If anything, she sounded playful. Then, turning her back on the both of them, she moved to the desk.

"Hello, ma'am," the librarian said to her. "May I help you find a book?"

"Ah..." For the first time, Raine faltered. She didn't know if she was looking for a book, but the same gut feeling that had brought her here told her that what she needed was in the library. Reaching to the watch on her wrist, she pulled it off and wordlessly put it on the counter.

The librarian looked at it for a long time.

"Dr. Sage must have sent you," she said, softly. Reaching under the desk, she pulled out a key and handed it to Raine. "If you have his watch, he must be dead. I'm very sorry to hear such a respected professor has passed on."

Raine didn't respond, taking the key and holding it tightly in her hand.

"You'll find that key opens his office on the third floor," the librarian continued, managing to get the words around her choked-up voice. "You'll find everything you need in there, in his desk."

Raine did an about face, marching past her students out the door. "You heard the woman," she said. "Let's go see what mysteries Dr. Sage left us."

Perhaps more confused than ever, Harley and Mesha had no choice but to follow their teacher into the main building. "Who is Dr. Sage?" Mesha voiced the question on all of their minds. "A relative of yours?"

"Ah..." Raine stopped to look at Mesha over her shoulder. "Well, I didn't really consider that." Thoughtful now, she looked at the key in her hands. "If that is the mystery I'm supposed to find out... could he possibly be..."

_My father?_

_My _grand_father?_

_A cousin? An.. uncle? Certainly it couldn't be my brother... and if I find out I have another brother I'd forgotten about I swear I'm going to... do something so terrible I don't even know what it is yet._

"Only one way to find out a this point," she said, her steps renewed with curiosity. She walked faster, and her students struggled to keep pace with her.

**OoOoOo**

"The wedding has a date," Orochi said as soon as they were outside. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"No, it is not," Sheena said with impatience. "Right now the safety of the village is more important than just us, Orochi. I need to get moving."

Sheena turned to walk away with a fiercely beating heart, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him, catching her protests with a kiss. This was so unlike him, it frightened her even more than the thought of their wedding did. She tried to pull away, which was normally more than enough to get him to keep his respectful distance, but today he was demanding. Clenching her hand tightly in his, pinning her other arm within his embrace, he crushed her against his strong frame. He was kissing her. In public. He'd never done that before. Despite the strength in his grip, the kiss was as tender as it had ever been with him, and yet somehow there was something different in the way he tasted. Different, but familiar.

Even though that was impossible, it felt like she was kissing Raine.

She saw Orochi there, but her body told her that it was Raine holding her and kissing her. "Orochi, _no_," she managed to gasp after she had regained her senses, turning her face away. Orochi only leaned closer, his lips warm and wet against her neck, something hard hiding behind them. Goddess, that was... Raine would do just that with her teeth, too. Just like that, in the exact same spot. In spite of herself, her breath hitched a little when he focused now on her earlobe, the hand that had been holding hers now running down her waist.

Finally free, Sheena shoved him away with all her strength. Her face was five shades redder than normal, and she was trying not to breathe too hard to let him know how he had affected her. It didn't work, though- Sheena could tell he knew exactly the feelings he had evoked in her. "What's wrong?" he asked, honestly hurt. "Why'd you stop it?"

"Because I _don't_ like being touched that way," Sheena said firmly, gaining control of herself. Whatever good feelings she had were washed away by the anger of having her personal space invaded.

"No, you do, just not by me," Orochi said with a sigh. "Is it because I'm a human? Or because I'm a man?"

Sheena froze. "What?"

Orochi's dark eyebrows gently rose in a bemused expression. "You thought I didn't know? About you and that half-elf?"

"What half-"

Before she knew what was happening, Orochi had her by the shoulder and slammed her up against the wall of her house. She looked up at him, this time not fighting back. His mouth against her ear, he hissed:

" Do not. Lie. To me."

He clenched harder on her shoulder, one arm behind his back.

Her arms were hanging limp by her sides, his odd behavior all suddenly explained. She knew men well enough to know how they felt ripped apart by deception of this sort, sometimes getting even more affected than women did.

"Orochi," she said finally. "I had- it's true. There was an affair."

His dark eyes narrowed. "I know there was."

She lowered her tear-filled eyes to the ground, making a fist with her hands. But she kept them at her sides. "I'm sorry. I know you don't believe me, but I'm sorry. If you want to hit me, I don't have any right to stop you. Call off the wedding if you like."

Orochi shook his head sadly. "You don't get it, do you Sheena?" he asked, one hand still behind his back. "I don't want to hit you. The thought of hurting you brings sorrow to me." He released her shoulder to wipe away at her tears with his rough, battle-scarred fingers. "And I'm not calling off the wedding. I love you, Sheena. You know that. And isn't love supposed to accept faults as well as the more desirable characteristics?"

Sheena jerked her head up at him, staring in disbelief. But there was no lie in his eyes.

"All I want," he said, finally pulling his hand out from behind his back. In it was a perfect circle, joined by a dainty diamond that shined like a star. "Is for you to accept this, or reject it, once and for all. I want the truth from you, darling. Do you love me, and accept that you made a mistake nine months ago?"

Sheena couldn't answer, looking from the diamond and back to him and back again.

"She left you, didn't she?" Orochi continued softly, stroking her face. "After she was done with you? After she got what she wanted?"

Sheena nodded, slowly, her eyes filling up again. "Yeah," she lied. In truth, she had been the one to leave. And when she came back, Raine had rejected her in anger and betrayal. Sheena had cut off contact with her since, afraid to meet those accusing eyes again. Forcing away those thoughts, she flung her arms around Orochi and hugged him tightly. He had been the reason she left in the first place- guilt at what she had done behind his back, him who had been her friend since childhood, who had treated her as an equal even after the Volt incident, after she had tried to kill his brother like she killed his parents.

"Oh, Sheena..." he said, holding her again, but to comfort her. "My poor Sheena. I'll forgive you no matter what you choose- me, or her."

"What-" Sheena paused to try and compose herself enough to form words, though she couldn't look him in the eyes. "What date did you have in mind, Orochi?"

He rocked her back and forth and didn't answer at first, smoothing his hand against her black hair. "Winter," he said. "Two months from now."

"Winter..." Winter had snow. Snowflakes held memories of sadness for her. "Winter sounds good. I mean... yeah, Orochi. Whatever you want. Anything you want."

He squeezed her tighter in the hug, and because he knew she couldn't see it, he smiled. It was a cruel smile, full of victory and cold...

..._maniacal_...

...joy.

**OoOoOo**

The name plate on the desk read "Alexander Sage."

"Well, we know his name now," Mesha said, somewhat disappointed by the average-looking office. She shuffled her feet and looked around at the stuffed bookshelves and chalkboards covered in years of dust. No one had been in here for a long time, and it was apparent.

"Not a name I recognize," Raine said, sounding her own disappointment. "When they said he was a professor like me, it made sense. I felt like he could have been someone I admired in my youth. But when I see his name, I feel nothing. No memories stirring." She sat on the desk, the watch in her hand as she sighed, staring at the face. The hands ticked away diligently. "But again, maybe he was someone I knew. I've done the math- If Genis was barely born when we were sent over to Sylvarant, I must have been somewhere between ten to twelve years old. Surely I should have more memories of Tethe'alla from those years." Leaning back, she turned her nostalgic gaze now on the ceiling. "So when I found my mother's diary, added to the fact that the Otherworldly Gate was in the middle of the ocean, I assumed I had been near death by drowning. Not only did that event cause my hydrophobia, but asphyxiation is proven to cause permanent memory loss."

Smiling thinly, she winked at Mesha who turned bright scarlet at the attention. Locking eyes with her, she continued: "Of course, it's only a theory. Miss Zerep?"

"Uh, yes?" Mesha said.

"What do _you_ suggest we... do?"

Mesha, if possible, might have turned even more red. _Calm down, girl. You can't take everything she says and turn it into an innuendo. But why did she say it like that? And why now all of a sudden? Why is she acting so weird? And what is up with that watch?_

Harley looked at the two, his red eyebrows slowly furrowing in confusion. "Maybe we should look in the desk like that lady said," he suggested when Mesha gave no indication that she was ever going to answer the question.

"Thank you, Mesha," Raine said dryly to Harley, sliding open the desk. There were various papers inside, as well as another watch. It was different from Raine's in few respects, except it was black where hers was gleaming steel. She slid it up her arm to rest next to its brother, turning her attention then to the papers. She shuffled through them while her apprentices waited.

"Well, the papers are his will,"she said after scanning through them. She set them down on the desk in a fan, folding her hands on top of them. "No doubt the woman thought we were here to find out his last wishes."

"They say anything interesting?" Harley asked, since Mesha was still busy trying to calculate the hidden meaning in Raine's words.

"Yes, actually," she said. Harley noticed only then that she was quaking faintly. "They said that all of his treasures and his works regarding the human and half-elf psyche should go to any children he might have had after the point when he had written the will. If he had no heirs, it should go to his twin brother, Kloitz Sage."

Her voice fell into something soft and strange as she looked down at the papers.

"Failing that, they should go to his sister-in-law, an elf named Virginia Sage."

She stopped again. Mesha and Harley looked at the name plate with freshly awakened eyes.

"Or, failing that..." she spread her hands flat on the desk. "His brother's children."

There was silence in the room. Mesha walked over to her side, looking down at the page. "That's not what it says," she said, half in shock and half in confusion. "It says everything should go to his _oldest_ child_- _that's you, Raine! I mean-" she jabbed at one of the papers fanned out on the table, smiling hugely. "Look, it says it- right there! Oldest child, Raine Sage. Isn't that cool? You have an uncle! I mean, if he gave you that watch when no one was looking, he could still be alive!"

Raine did not share her enthusiasm.

"You're looking at the wrong will, dear," Raine said, pushing aside the paper Mesha had been pointing to. "As you'll see from these other documents, Dr. Alexander was forced to change the conditions of the will. Look at the dates- this one is newer. It even says _why_ things must be changed."

Mesha read where Raine's shaking finger was pointing. When she was done, she instinctively put her hand over Raine's, looking to her with her mouth open in a wordless question. She shook her head, trying again to find the right way to ask... but nothing came out.

"How can that be possible?" she finally managed. "Maybe it's a mistake."

"Well, it's a hell of a mistake to make," Raine snapped, though it was clear she was only angry to deal with her confusion. She shoved the papers away in disgust, looking around her at the notebooks full of Alexander's scribbles and observations.

"What?" Harley ran over to their side of the desk, but Mesha wouldn't let go of the paper. "What does it say?"

"It says I'm dead," Raine said. She gently pried it from Mesha's fingers and handed it to Harley so that he could read the words for myself. "He changed it from me to Genis because I had died only a few months after the will was written, a few months after I had been born." She crossed her arms, letting out a shuddering sigh. "But Alexander must have been quite a slacker. It took him eleven years for him to finally write up the new one, when Genis and Kloitz II were born."

Harley shook his head, handing it back to her. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, we've already come to that conclusion, Harley. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to defy the wishes of my dearly departed uncle and go through all of his work before I hand it over to my brother."

"Hey, if the old fart ain't dead yet, you're technically not breaking any rules."

"Harley! Don't talk about Raine's uncle that way!"

Harley turned to Mesha, hands on his hips. "Well, some uncle he is if he's going around telling everyone she's dead!" Raine dutifully ignored both of her students as they started one of their daily squabbles. Taking the papers and studying them again, she tried once more to find some way to make sense of what the papers told her. The problem, she knew, was that she wasn't looking at this objectively. After all, it was upsetting when legal documents declared you deceased for over twenty years.

She decided to start at the beginning. Twin brothers. One married an elf woman. They had a daughter. The daughter died. Eleven years pass, and the couple have more children- twin boys, to be exact.

But.. it still didn't make any sense. She was alive, wasn't she? What a day, when you start to doubt your own existence. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she tuned back into the squabble.

"Listen, what this paper says or doesn't say makes no difference to us," she said, breaking in between them, physically pushing them apart. She looked on either side of her at her students. "We're here in Sybak, the city of scholars where the Imperial Research Academy is located. I say, let's borrow one of the classrooms and have an honest-to-goodness lesson, under a roof."

Mesha didn't believe that Raine was even half as cheerful as she acted, but knew better than to bring up this admittedly bizarre subject. Raine shooed them out of the room, locking it behind her, cheerfully carrying on about pop quizzes and good literature.

**OoOoOo**

CrRREEeeee...

It was late at night. Raine looked up from her mother's diary as she heard the door squeal open on rusty hinges and Mesha walk through with a steaming mug held in one hand as she closed the door behind her with the other. Her very frame exuded indignation.

"I thought you should know, Harley's planning on pulling the prank of the century tomorrow morning," she stated dryly, pulling up a chair to sit next to Raine at the desk. She was in Alexander's office again, a frown on her face.

"Hmph. Thank you for the warning..." Raine said, turning back into the diary. "What are you drinking?"

"It's chamomile tea." Mesha reached over and set it down in front of Raine. "And it's for you. It's soothing, to help you relax." Her cheeks turned pink and she sat back in her chair again, hands in her lap. "I mean, I know you have trouble sleeping."

Raine's stern expression softened at that and she smiled ruefully, taking the tea. "Thanks," she said again, meaning it this time.

"Nah, it's nothing. Mom drank chamomile all the time, and it just occurred to me that it might help you get to sleep too."

Raine lost her smile, clearing her throat and looking away. "I remember now. The night I visited your house, your father made some tea for me, though I don't know if it was chamomile."

Mesha shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I used to tease her about it cause it seemed like she had a specific tea for every occasion." Mesha laughed, folding her hands on the table. Raine glanced sideways at her, seeing that Mesha's gaze was far off in memories. "And because she used to be something of a healer herself, every time one of the villagers came by complaining of something or other, Mom would give whatever medicinal herbs were needed and some tea, and told them if they didn't drink the tea the medicine wouldn't work!"

Raine grinned. "Your mother sounds like someone Lloyd Irving would have feared. I could just see her forcing some nasty-tasting medicine down his throat, telling him it was for his own good."

"Heh, well!" Mesha flushed again. "I've never met Lloyd Irving in person, so I'll have to take your word for it." Raine smiled at her, and wouldn't you know it, her heart starting going crazy again. Why was it that Raine had such an affect on her? Mesha quickly broke their eye contact. She knew she was a lot younger than Raine, and her father had always warned her against getting involved with someone her age while Mesha was still so young. But that was with guys... did the principle apply with girls as well? Her mother had been around to give her the Talk, as had her father, but did wanting to crawl into her arms and kiss count as wanting to actually... you know? And it wasn't like either of them could get pregnant. The fact that homosexuals even existed was relatively new information to Mesha, and there wasn't much you could learn about them from the limited books she had had access to in her village.

Unknowing to her, this deep thought cause a frown to cross her features, and her forehead to bunch in concentration. Raine smiled at this and leaned over to rub her fingers against the wrinkles in Mesha's forehead. "You're much too young to be forming frown lines. What are you thinking so hard about?"

Mesha gulped. "Oh- uh, nothing really."

"Your mind is never empty. Tell me."

Put in the hot seat, Mesha squirmed. She obviously couldn't tell Raine she was curious to know how lesbians made love, but she didn't want to lie to Raine, either. "Eh... well, I was thinking about you I guess."

"Oh dear." Raine's eyebrows shot up in worry. "Have I been doing something that warrants frown lines lately?"

"No, no. It's more like..." Unable to believe that she was actually saying it, she finished with a mumble: "Things you haven't been doing."

"Oh. I see." Raine pushed Mesha's green hair out of the way and pecked her cheek. "I haven't been paying much attention to you since I found the watch, right? Sorry." Mesha leaned into her, kissing Raine on the lips. Her teacher responded, shifting in her seat so that they were facing each other. Casually resting one hand on Mesha's lap with the other cupping her face, she pressed forward with the kiss, biting down on the girl's lower lip. Hard. Mesha made a small noise of surprise and pulled back, breathing loud.

"Too rough?" Raine guessed. Mesha could only nod, embarrassed. "Hmm." Taking the tea and sipping from it, she spoke thoughtfully. "Understand me, Mesha, that if I ever do something you find uncomfortable or unpleasant, I need you to tell me like you just did."

"Uh.. of course." Mesha nodded. Standing up, she glanced at the clock. "Well... it is kind of late. I should probably head off to bed. Make sure you drink all of the tea and _please_ try to relax. I don't want you to nod off on your Rheiard again, Professor."

As she walked out the door a bit quicker than she had walked in, she stopped when she heard the Professor speak. "...Mesha?"

Mesha whirled around, her hands behind her back like a child being reprimanded. "Yes, Raine?"

Raine paused for a moment before shaking her head and smiling. "Nothing. Good night."

The door closed and Raine sighed, thumping her forehead down on the desk over and over again. _Go ahead and add pedophilia to your list of vices, Raine,_ she thought to herself, disgusted. _Fifteen years old. You have to remember that. She's not Sheena._

Well, that was easy enough to remember.

Sighing again, she glanced up at the mug of tea looming over her head on the desk. Sitting up straight, she held it, slowly sipping and relaxing the way Mesha had asked her to. But soon, she almost spilled it when the door swung open again and Mesha ran up to her, throwing her arms around the older half-elf's shoulders and resting her forehead against the back of her neck.

"You think we can sleep together again tonight?" Mesha asked, almost quicker than Raine could comprehend. When she did manage to make out what her student had said, Raine laughed, reaching behind her neck to hold the back of Mesha's head. Twisting in her seat, she kissed her student. Mesha _'mmm'_ed happily against her lips, kissing back sweetly with her hands clutching the shoulders of Raine's orange jacket.

"Of course we can," Raine said upon pulling away, "I was just waiting for you to ask."

**OoOoOo**

"LAND!" Zelos cried, throwing himself on the ground and kissing it, sobbing not-so-quietly. They had finally arrived back at Izoold, but neither Kratos nor Yuan were in the mood for putting up with his theatrics. Hauling him up, they tossed him into the air onto his Rheiard.

"We're not done traveling yet, Chosen," Kratos said. "Don't get too comfortable. Our next stop is Mizuho to re-group with Sheena and lend her our aid."

"Aye, aye, captain commodore lieutenant corporal colonel SIR!"

"Shut up and move, boy," Yuan added, shoving out with one foot at the back of the floating Rheiard to push it forward. Pulling out his own Rheiard, he revved the engine impatiently, looking around him to see if the others had followed suit.

Lloyd made his Rheiard roar in answer, smiling grimly at the blue sky that stretched out in front of them.

"Next stop- Mizuho!"

**OoOoOo**

**A/N: **Oh me, oh my! Sorry for the long wait, but as I've said before I'm a little caught up in trying to update Immortal Games regularly. Things got wild in that chapter, but in a bad way. No kisses, more like people getting stabbed and shot and exploded. God, I love my action scenes. Anyway, back to Partners. It took me forever to write this chapter because of the will scene. I had no idea how to go about telling Raine she was supposed to be dead long before Genis was ever born. I think I did an OK job, though- what do you guys think?

And hmmmm! _Maniacal_... Isn't that a rather familiar adjective?


	23. Raine

**A/N:** Well, been a while hasn't it? I'm pretty bad at keeping track of time as it goes by. Sorry for the delay, enjoy the next chapter!

**Where are all the champions? They used to come around. Where are all the champions? They're no where to be found..**

**OoOoOo**

"I'm practically a prisoner here."

Sheena knelt at her knee-high table, a mug of untouched tea cooling in front of her. Zelos, Lloyd, and Colette sat around the same table, giving each other uncertain glances and struggling to find the right words to say. A pile of rags were in the corner, utterly still.

"Listen, Sheena..." Lloyd began. Of course Lloyd began. He was always the one who defended her, even way back when she was trying to kill Colette. Good old Lloyd.. "If Orochi found out about your affair, doesn't that give you both reason to break off the marriage?"

"It does," Sheena admitted, "But how could I do that to him?"

"Easily!" Zelos burst out, slamming an angry fist on the table. "I've been going around sleeping with anyone who'll put out trying to get Pandora to cancel the engagement, but you're a different case. This time, the unwanted party actually cares about the fiance!" Sitting back with a thoughtful expression, Zelos took a long sip from his mug. "I'm actually surprised you didn't take that angle of attack in the first place, Sheena."

Sheena could only shake her head in disgust.

"Because Sheena cares about Orochi, Zelos," Colette explained for her friend, placing one delicate hand over Sheena's and squeezing it lovingly. "But it's a different kind of love, like the love I have for you, or Genis, or even Kratos. Orochi is her friend and she doesn't want to hurt him."

"And," Sheena added, "I need to produce an heir for Mizuho."

"I could help with that," Zelos offered. "Maybe if we got married Pandora would finally give up."

A new voice joined the party before Sheena could violently attack Zelos's plan of action. "Well, if we're talking eligible bachelors, I'm quite eligible." Yuan swept into the room, partially hiding his robotic hand behind his back now that his cape was gone. "Who am I marrying?"

"No one," Kratos growled, stepping in after Yuan with the air of someone who has just been tailing their formerly angelic friend to be sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Zelos nodded decisively. "Yeah. _I'm_ marrying Sheena."

"I'm marrying Orochi!" Sheena shouted, standing up with her face red and flushed. "And I'm not complaining about that! All I'm trying to say is I'm stuck here now, and I need someone to go to Meltokio now and kill Kloitz while he's still vulnerable."

"Nip the problem in the bud before it has a chance to take root and spread," Lloyd agreed, showing one of those rare bouts of wisdom. "I'll go, with Zelos. He has all the power of the kingdom behind him so getting into a high security area wouldn't be too difficult."

"If that's the case, then why don't I just kill him?" Zelos drawled, perhaps uncaring that they were talking about someone's life.

There was a stiff silence from Lloyd. He very pointedly looked only at his cup of tea, untouched and with swirls of steam rising off of it.

"He has a point," Colette said.

"I'm going to have to agree with Colette," Sheena said.

"It's only logical," Kratos muttered, half-heartedly.

Yuan was as silent as Lloyd for a moment, but then he smirked. His claw twitched involantarily as he spoke, running the fingers of his normal hand through his messy silver hair. "You want the satisfaction, don't you?" he guessed, expression shrewd.

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed, almost humbly. "Somehow I feel, whenever I see Genis these days he's so full of sadness. And I know it's _his_ fault."

Sheena slowly sat back down, letting the information sink in. "Lloyd, I don't want to kill Kloitz out of revenge, even after all he's done," she said, trying to get him to look her in the eyes. She spoke clearly, making each word stand out. "We're only doing this because we don't have a choice. It may not be right, but if it will stop future suffering..."

Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a sparkling, silver needle. She placed it on the table, sliding it over to the Eternal Swordsman. "You can kill him if you feel it will avenge Genis somehow," she said, "But you're not going to hack him to pieces, all right? Remember this is Raine's brother we're talking about. Genis's own twin."

"I know," Lloyd said.

He took the needle.

There was a rustling of feathers from the corner of the room. Sheena shot the pile of rags- which was of course Matias- a dirty look. "No, you can't go with him. You're staying right here where I can keep an eye on you."

The rest were still a little alarmed to hear Sheena having her one-sided conversations with Matias, but eventually relented. Somehow Sheena could hear his voice. That was all there really was to it, in their opinion. They'd seen too many odd things in their life to really doubt this now.

Sheena, meanwhile, continued. "What does it matter, as long as he's dead? Why should you care either way?" she paused, her face growing angry. "Listen, the deal is when I know he's gone I'll cure you. I'm sticking to that. I have honor, you know. But maybe that's too much for a crime lord to understand."

Lloyd cleared his throat and Sheena jumped, shocked back into their reality. She flushed. "Was I speaking out loud?" she wanted to know. Lloyd nodded.

"So... do I go now?" he asked before she could apologize. "Is that all there really is to it?"

"The sooner he's gone, the better." Sheena stood up; so did Lloyd.

"Then let's go. Colette... please stay here. I'll only be gone a day."

Colette tried to get to her feet, mouth open to protest, but Lloyd had already left and took Zelos with him. She sat back down, visibly fighting tears, but Sheena pretended not to notice for the sake of her pride.

"So what do _we_ do?" Yuan wanted to know, sharpening his metal claws on a dagger he kept in his belt. "Plan the wedding? I mean, should the bridesmaids wear matching dresses or-?"

"Yuan, be silent." Kratos's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Your drabble is worse now than it was two thousand years ago."

Yuan smiled winningly. "What do you mean? This is me two thousand years ago. And judgeing by what everyone's been telling me I grew up to be, I like it much better with my memory gone. Less inhibitions. No secret resistance to Yggdrasil. No worries, except for this Kloitz bastard who took my hand. By the way, if he really is the heir to the Cardinal of Fire- Magnum, or Morrigan or whatever his name was- doesn't that mean we know him?" Yuan sheathed his knife, leaning against the door frame to Sheena's small hut. "I mean, we were of the Four Seraphim. Him and that mute runt over there must have crossed our paths once or twice." He nodded to Matias, who was of course silent.

Kratos shook his head. "I made it a point to avoid the Cardinals as much as I could, but it's not at all impossible that you might have known Matias. You were quite friendly with Rodyle for a time."

Yuan raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

"...No, not lovers." Kratos was forced to answer, the distaste apparant on his face. "At least, not as far as I knew. Must we go over this every time I say you had a friend?"

Yuan huffed. "Well, _we _were friends, weren't we?" he made finger quotations around the word 'friends', grinning evilly at Kratos. His claw glimmered.

"Whoa." Sheena couldn't help but let the word slip, staring incredulously at Kratos. Colette looked quite confused.

"_No_, we were _not_." Kratos said for Sheena and Colette's benefit as much as for his own. He looked dangerously close to drawing his sword the former angel. "And I'm sure you remember that very clearly, Yuan, so don't pretend otherwise."

"Oh, I don't know..." he sighed dramatically. "All my memory gets so fuzzy, sometimes the faces overlap, and names get switched around. I could have sworn it was us that one time in Vinheim with- gack!"

Yuan was forcibly dragged from the room. Kratos had one arm locked around the half-elf's neck, using his angelic strength to his advantage. Dumping him outside, Kratos quivered with rage.

"Do not ever try to tarnish my name like that again," Kratos said. "I know around this time in your life, you and I... we didn't... get along very well. But please try to remember, this is all two thousand years old for me. "

"God damn hypocrite. Why don't you try understanding that this is only a few months old for me!" he pointed at Kratos, eyes narrowed and tone accusing. "The fact of the matter is: I don't trust you, old man." He paused. "And I never will."

"You will. I mean, you _do_." Kratos said firmly, stepping to the side. Farther away from Yuan. "You do. You just don't remember."

Yuan's lips curled up in a sneer. "That's getting old."

"So am I." Kratos was curt. "Now stop this. You're acting like a child."

"Well, maybe if you didn't follow me everywhere-"

"Fine."

Yuan blinked. "What?"

The seraph stared him down, expression cool. "Leave. Your presence has worn down my last nerve, and I have more important things to worry about than your _feelings_, Yuan."

Yuan's forehead bunched together. He clenched his jaws in anger and spun around, marching away.

"You never change," he said. "If this really is my future, I'd rather be stuck in my past forever!"

**OoOoOo**

Raine Sage had locked herself up in Alexander Sage's office. Not even Mesha could drag her out of there now. It had started in the morning after they had first gotten here. Raine had jumped up from her bed, speaking as though there was another person in the room besides Mesha.

"And how many times do I have to tell _you_-!" she started, before awakening fully. She paused after that, her back turn on Mesha and a hand clapped against her mouth. Her face was pale.

"Raine?"

Mesha stumbled out of the bed, wiping sleep from her eyes. "Is everything all-?"

Without answering, Raine ran from the hotel room and went to Sage's office.

It was two days later that she staggered out, a travel worn book in her hands and an expression of tired triumph. She went to the hotel lobby and found Mesha and Harley, tossing the book down onto the table hard enough to make them jump. Ignoring their questions, she reached into her orange coat and pulled out Virginia's diary, tenderly laying it down next to the other book.

"I didn't die," she said, smiling softly. "Raine Sage did."

Harley and Mesha looked at each other, twin expressions of confusion apparant on their face. Finally, Mesha dared to venture her opinion. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Oh?" Raine wiped at the tired circles under her eyes. "Doesn't it? Your problem, my dear, is in assuming _I'm _Raine Sage."

Shocked silence. And then: "Of course you're Raine Sage!" Harley jumped from his seat. "You saved the world! You have the unicorn horn! What kinda crazy talk is this, Professor?"

"Yeah," Mesha agreed. "If you're not Raine Sage, who are you?"

"According to Alexander?" she opened up the book on the table. It was a diary. "I'm no one." Raine sat down, strangely calm for the revelation she was about to deliver. "The real Raine Sage died. _Years_ ago."

**OoOoOo**

A stream of bubbles flowed from the subject's mouth into the blue, viscous substance it was immersed in. Urashima was somewhere behind him, typing something into the control panel that kept it alive.

The room was inconspicuous. It could have been a room anywhere in the world- or maybe not even in a world. The floors and the walls were all solid, stark white. Urashima, himself, and the creature in the tube stood out sharply against the harsh background.

Alex pressed his hand against the glass, looking into deep eyes purple as his own.

_This has gotten out of control_.

**OoOoOo**

**A/N: **Next Chapter, we go into the pages of the diary of Dr. Alexander Sage. This is just to let ya'll know I'm alive.


	24. Snake

**A/N:** Ah well. The original chapter idea for this was going to be a total flashback, but I decided against it because I'm getting depressed with this story. There really is no excuse for the length of time I've abandoned this, so to all my faithful people who have stuck with it so far...

I just want to thank you for putting up with my bullshit. Review if you want, even if you don't this WILL get finished. Don't ever fear.

Peace.

And enjoy the chapter!

**OoOoOo**

**I mean... who does she remind you of? Physically?**

Kloitz looked down at the child. She sat on the kitchen floor, doodling on a piece of paper.

**You can't pretend you haven't noticed.**

_**Where are you trying to get with this, Alex?**_

**A replacement.**

A gasp, and then... Weak, pained coughs.

_**Are you fucking with me? **_Kloitz is kneeling, clutching at his chest with one hand. The other hand is on the kitchen table as he tries to get back to his feet. The sickness in him is deep now, rooted firmly in his chest. Alex stands, eerily calm, the child at his feet. **_You think calling her Raine will bring back my daughter? You think- you think it's like a watch? It gets broken, you can just fucking replace it?! IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?_**

**...Perhaps I chose the wrong words. **Alex looks away, dead-pan.

Kloitz reaches further into the table, grabbing another plate and hurling it at his brother. It lands at his feet, terribly off mark. But the shards scratch the girl and she starts, beginning to cry, luminous purple eyes scrunched up, livid red mouth open and squalling. The door opens and the brothers look up as one. A silver haired elf stands in the doorway.

_What's happened? What's...?_

She stops, noticing the girl who had been shocked into silence by the sudden arrival. She gets to her feet, running to Alex and hiding behind his long legs, shyly peering out at Virginia.

**Don't be bashful, Raine. Say hello to Virginia.**

Raine shakes her head, hiding behind Alex's legs.

Alex gets down on one knee, putting a hand on top of her head. **Don't be so silly, Virginia won't hurt you. Go say hello. You said hello to Kloitz.**

Raine shakes her head even harder, her pale face turning red.

**Well… **he looks up at his brother, who's still coughing.** Then how about you show Virginia what you can do, huh?**

She takes this into consideration for a moment, and then runs up to Kloitz, putting her tiny hands on his chest.

"Heal," she says.

And the room was filled with a sudden draft of air, though the windows were all closed. Warm light radiated from the palms of the girl as she stepped back once, twice,a dn then turned around to run back to Alex, peering shyly at Kloitz, who's coughing fit had subsided.

**Even if you don't want her as a daughter… I can't trust anyone else with her safety**, Kloitz said, stroking her long silver hair. **The research labs want her, bad. You guys are her only hope.**

_**Still… why "Raine"? Why that name?**_

…**well, it was _available_, wasn't it?**

**OoOoOo**

"Finally!" Zelos exclaimed, stepping through the gates of Meltokio. "It's felt like ages since I last grace this place with my presence!" He strolled forward with his chest puffed out, Lloyd following him with considerable less flair.

"Let's just get this over with, Zelos," he said, putting a hand on the Ex-Chosen's shoulder to steer him away from the closest bar.

"Heh. Excited about your first assassination mission?" Zelos said cheekily.

Lloyd recoiled in shock. "Of course not!" he said, eyes wide with horror. "You think this is a game, Zelos? I'm going to… to kill someone."

"Having second thoughts, are we?" Zelos turned around with a solemn face, carefully scrutinizing Lloyd.

"…Yes." Lloyd looked away. "This goes against everything I stood for, three years ago. I'm still not sure why I volunteered." He looked down at his gloved hands, deep in thought. He knew not why he wanted to be the one to do the deed… but some part of him knew there was no other choice.

Zelos broke him out of his reverie, handsome voice vibrating in his head. "Then let me do it."

Lloyd glared at Zelos, taking a few steps back. "I'll do it. I gave my word!" Brushing past the red head, he moved towards the Meltokio prisons with grim determination. "And I'm not going to break that."

**OoOoOo**

Presea sat, her face pressed against the window of her room. Her ears were still ringing from the lecture Regal had given her, and her mind still raged from the unfairness of it all. Even though she was technically only like, fifteen, she was older than that and deserved more respect. Regal didn't realize how valuable she was to him, how she knew more about this stupid island than even he did, high in his tower.

She sat, fuming, in silence.

Tok tok tok tok!

"Might as well enter," she called out to whoever it was, unsticking her forehead from the window pane. "Unless you're Regal, in which case you'll get a healthy butt-whipping if you set one foot inside-"

The door opened to a tall, blue haired martial artist, but it wasn't Regal. "Genis!" Presea said, her bad mood evaporating instantly as he stepped in. She ran up to him and gave him a hug, and only then saw the dark figure standing behind him.

"And Pandora," she finished bleakly, glaring daggers at the half-elf.

"So nice to see you again, darling."

"Listen," Genis said, and if he noticed the sudden tension in the room he was ignoring it. "I just got a message from Sheena. She says something big is happening, and we're all needed."

"Big?" Presea blinked. She looked from face to face. "How big?"

"No idea but… I'm assuming the worst."

Her face grew grim as well. "I see," she said. "Regal's coming too, I guess? Never mind, of course he is. I…" She turned away, one hand pressed against her ex-sphere. It wasn't the one that had robbed her of her memories and life, of course. It wasn't even strong enough to keep her at the same level of fighting competence she had been only a few months ago when the last effects of the original Cruxis Crystal began to wear off. She began to think, her sharp mind quickly formulating a plan. "I'll see you all in half an hour, then. Where are we meeting?"

Genis blinked a few times. "Well, Regal thought you'd be ready, so we didn't really-"

"Maytag's Playhouse," Presea said firmly. "The new joint they put up by the bar. It's a comedy club, very entertaining. If I'm late, I'm sure you guys won't notice. Now shoo shoo shoo!" She shoved them out of the room, ignoring their protests. "I've gotta get ready. Buh-bye!"

She slammed the door shut behind her, thinking fast. She had thirty minutes, maybe an hour, until they would start to miss her. Pulling on her Palmacosta uniform, the one that made her look like a boy, she wrenched open the windows to her room and leaped out into the air, free-falling for a few seconds before snatching the frame of an open hotel window. What would have dislocated the arms of any normal person only jarred her for a moment as she hung there, swinging slightly over the ocean. Clambering down another few stories, the pink-haired girl lowered her sunglasses to peer out at two familiar figures making their way to the comedy club. She waited longer, patient until she saw the unmistakable blue blob that was Regal, the last man on Aselia she wanted to be her father. When he was gone, she fell three more stories, caught herself again, and then carefully climbed down onto a small boat hidden in the craggy side of the ocean-view hotel. Starting the motor, she zoomed over from the hotel to the Lezareno Company Building.

She looked up from the rocking boat, up at the top story window.

She had _maybe_ an hour to do what she came to do.

Presea figured she'd be in and out in fifteen minutes. Pressing the ex-sphere on her chest, she felt the strength flood through her limbs and began to climb.

**OoOoOo**

"-And so the Druid said: "Don't forget your riding boots!"

The club erupted into laughter. Pandora soon had tears running down her cheeks, and even Regal managed to crack a smile at the pretty jester girl on stage. Genis, however, frowned, resting one elbow on the table as he pondered the joke. "I don't get it," the half-elf said, his silver eyebrows furrowed.

Pandora dabbed at her face with a napkin, still chuckling. Leaning over, she whispered into Genis's ear. "They're his wife's boots!"

The half-elf paused for a moment, digesting this new information. Then his face crumpled and he slammed his head down onto the table, laughing his ass off. "Oh my goddess!" he said, shaking all over from guffaws. "That is _soooo_ wrong!"

"Isn't it?"

The three looked up to see Presea standing over their table, dressed like a girl for once. Her little yellow summer dress was flattering to her petite frame, the ruffles on the front hiding her unimpressive chest. She sat down next to them, her cheeks slightly red and her hair looking a little windswept. "She's not hard on the eyes, neither."

"I'm going to have to agree with Presea," Pandora said, her lips curling upward in a small smile. Genis huffed, suddenly not amused anymore.

"Well then," Regal said, standing up. He was all business, even though he wasn't wearing his normal suit-and-tie ensemble. Neither was he wearing his prisoner garb. Instead he wore loose-fitting, flowing white-and-tan clothes that made him seem almost as though he was a Triet tribesman. The martial-artist wanted to be free and ready at all times. He also carried his handcuffs in a shoulder bag… just in case. "If we've wasted enough time, we need to get to Mizuho, and fast."

"We're not staying to watch the knife-juggling act?" Presea asked, eyes wide with false innocence.

Genis perked up in spite of himself. "A knife-?" he started, but then shook his head. "Er- Regal's got a point. We've wasted enough time as it is. Maytag and her routine will have to wait for a day when the world isn't in danger."

"Isn't it always in danger?" Pandora asked no one in particular, looking up at the ceiling.

**OoOoOo**

Getting past the guards was easy.

Getting past his own guilt was another matter entirely.

Kloitz lay sleeping, sprawled out in his prison cell with his good arm tucked behind his head as a natural pillow. His forehead was creased in many lines formed by his frowning face, lips barely moving in half-intelligible mutterings. The end of his damaged hand no longer needed bandages of any type, ending in a round stump coated with scars. Lloyd stood over him, needle held firmly in one hand as he knelt next to the bed, readying it the way Sheena had told him.

"When I count to three…" Lloyd never looked away from the half-elf. "I need you to pin him down."

Zelos cracked his knuckles, nodding before realizing that Lloyd couldn't see him. "Yeah. Got it."

"One…"

Heart thundering. What was he doing? Not only was Kloitz unarmed (literally), he didn't even have an Ex-Sphere. No one should ever have to be sacrificed. Was this a sacrifice? Was this really what was best? Was Kloitz even the threat Martel warned them about?

His lips moved, tongue dry. "_Two_…"

There was no other choice…

_There's always a choice._

There was no other choice…?

Kloitz's violet eyes snapped open, growing wide with sluggish shock. Luminous and purple, misguided and lost, he didn't even seem to be properly awake. "L-Lloyd…" he said with a heavy tongue, voice rough. Zelos moved, socking him square in the face so that he was knocked flat back onto the bed again. Grasping at his wrists, Zelos looked over his shoulder at Lloyd almost in a panic.

"Do it," he said.

Lloyd knew there was only one thing to say.

"I can't."

Zelos froze for a moment, but the struggled of Kloitz snapped him out of it quick enough. Letting go of the half-elf, he lifted one leg up and shot out at Lloyd's chest, knocking the seraph backwards- but not before Zelos could snatch the needle right out of his hands. "I knew you couldn't," he snarled angrily, "Not even when it's everything he deserves!"

"N-No!" Kloitz said, sitting up, pushing feebly at Zelos with his one good hand. Zelos grasped at his face, pushing his head back and baring his neck where he plunged the needle with such force it almost snapped before he could inject the lethal fluid.

"Zelos, _no_!"

Lloyd wrenched the Ex-chosen off the half-elf, but too late. The needle was still protruding from his neck, and Kloitz was utterly still. Even in death his eyes seemed to glow with their own demonic light, staring out into nothing. And before their very eyes, before either of them could say anything, the half-elf's face began to morph. Lumps formed, rolling along his flesh as though tiny mice had somehow burrowed their way into his body, rippling like the surface of a lake after a stone had been thrown inside. The stump that was once a hand began to grow and spread, a perfectly normal and healthy appendage sprouting from the wound. And Kloitz's horribly familiar features shifted into something even worse.

Orochi lay sprawled there in the prison cell, mouth agape, dark eyes flat and dull.


	25. Pretty Ugly

**2 AM and she calls me cause I'm still awake, "Can you help me unravel my latest mistake? I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season."**

**A/N: Told you I wasn't giving up on this one! Did I tell you or did I tell you? I mean did I tell you or did I tell you?! (-foams at the mouth-) this was half-done for a month before I sat down the other day to play with it. At this rate I'm not expecting more than three chapters left, and perhaps an epilogue.**

**Love you all! And thanks for reading!**

**OoOoOo**

Winter is almost upon them, reaching up and outward with tiny cancer claws that spread across the cities, the towns that change with the seasons. Even in Triet, where Claire the fortune-telling woman sells fake amethysts to young hopefuls looking for true love, the nights grow bitter cold. Flanoir's idyllic, snowy landscape turns into a tundra, a frozen wasteland that only the locals know how to handle.

Meltokio- Lloyd and Zelos run towards the gates, their breath turning to steam when it flows out of their wide open mouths. They run with such profound fear and sickness driving them, emotions so dark in their hearts they couldn't ever voice them, not even if they were given the rest of their lives to remember and regret yet another mistake in their quest to bring peace.

Mizuho- Sheena, Matias, Colette, and Kratos wait in tense silence, wait for their friends to arrive because there's nothing else they can do. They're not used to an inability to act. They're used to being in the dark, being deceived, being misled- but they always had a foothold to climb back up with. Something, sometimes insignificant, was always there to grasp onto in the darkness so that they could grope their way to a better path. Now, there isn't even that.

Yuan- who knows where he is now? He left when Kratos finally stopped trying to treat him with respect, finally growing tired of his juvenile attitude.

The skies above Altamira- Four Rheiards hover cautiously for a moment, turning as one to point their noses towards Mizuho and then their engines begin to rumble as they dare to use Zelos's suicide, speed-warp invention. Speed is paramount, after all, and somehow they know now that things are going to get very ugly, very soon.

The abandoned Renegade Base in the Triet Desert- something stirs in the very bowels of that place, feeding off of scraps of the glorious Cruxis technology. Far off, on the other side of the base, Alexander Sage sits on a rotting mattress in what had been the soldiers quarters. His head is cradled in his hands as he finds a way to deal with what he knows he must do.

Sybak- Raine Sage stands outside the academy, looking up at the bleak grey sky with eyes wide and searching. Somehow with the discovery of her uncle's diary she begins to piece together the lie that was her life up until now. Memories rush back in sporadic bursts- here a name, there a face, some of them triggered by scents and sounds and others simply come to her, floating before her eyes to taunt her with the truth before fading away to become maddening, deafening background noise in her torrid mind. She's so lost in thought, she doesn't feel the crab-claws of winter sneaking up on her to hold her in its tight grip. She looks at the sky and doesn't see the storm clouds gathering, or the way the wind howls in warning.

Mesha walks outside, briefly scans the area and, spotting the Professor, makes her way to the figure standing frozen and still as any statue...

**OoOoOo**

"Hey..."

Raine, surprised, whirled around with her arms crossed defensively across her chest, eyes narrowed before she recognized the petite girl bundled up against the elements. The temperature had plummeted very suddenly and without warning that day- Mesha wore a soft blue sweater, matching, snug hat, and a sparkling white scarf wrapped around her neck. Her cheeks and nose red from the cold, she tried her best to smile at the Professor but found that her efforts were not rewarded with a responding smile.

"Feeling all right?" Mesha asked, looking at her own hands and busying herself with putting on her mittens. "It's really cold out here, Professor. You should go inside, or at least get your coat if you're staying out here."

"Oh.." Raine looked down at her own bare hands, suddenly realizing that she couldn't feel them from the cold. "Right. You're right. I'll be fine, though, Mesha, so you shouldn't-"

She tried to get past Mesha but the half-elf girl wordlessly held her arm up to block Raine's way. A thick black button-up coat was draped over it. "I borrowed it from Harley," she said. "Couldn't find yours, and I figured you'd want to stay out here anyway." With the air of one defeated, she watched Raine pull her arms through the sleeves, green eyes sad. She turned away, adjusting her scarf. "So... yeah. I'll leave now, if you want to be alone a little longer."

She waited a moment with her back turned, but when Raine didn't say anything she didn't waste any more time, making her way back towards the warmth of the indoors. Then, floating across the wind like the voice of a spirit, she heard it:

"...Mesha... Mesha, _look_."

Mesha stopped in her tracks, looking over her shoulder.

Raine had her face towards the skies again, arms outstretched and her palms held up. "It's snowing," she said, almost in surprise. "I didn't expect to see snow for another two weeks here in Sybak. Come here for a second." When the girl cautiously approached her teacher, the older half-elf pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping her within the excess fabric of Harley's coat, which was much too big for her. Propping her chin on top of Mesha's head, Raine kept her gaze on the falling snow.

Her back was pressed up against the Professor's chest. "Do you... like the snow, Professor?" she asked.

Raine rolled her shoulders. "I identify with it," she said. "I used to like it." _I used to think of it as the sky's catharsis- building up so much turmoil, so high in those clouds, until the moment when it breaks and rushes out_. "But now I associate it with something unpleasant that happened to me not too long ago."

Mesha's eyes rested on her own two feet. "A lot of unpleasantness has happened recently, hasn't it, Raine?"

"...Yes."

Suddenly, she couldn't hold it in any longer. "You know, all those things-" She turned around in Raine's arms, her hands resting on top of the woman's shoulders as she forced herself to look her teacher in her violet eyes. "Everything it says in that man's diary- even if it is true, it doesn't change who you are. Not really. It's something new, but it's only an addition- it's not a total rework of your system, you know? Just because an archeologist suddenly digs up a big skeleton, that doesn't mean he created it. It was waiting there all along for him to find it- or for no one to ever find it. You just happened to find it."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Mesha."

"...why did that feel like you were mocking me."

"I'm not," Raine reassured her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to come out the way it did." She let Mesha go, stepping back to cross her arms and try to warm herself. She hadn't noticed how cold she was until she experienced how warm Mesha felt against her. Her cheeks turning red with shame, she looked away and regained her composure before Mesha could turn around, so all the girl saw was Raine glancing aside with a vaguely bored expression on her face.

"I- I think I want to be alone a little longer, Mesha."

It stung.

"…Fine. If you want to be alone, be alone," Mesha said, walking back towards the hotel. She didn't wait for a response from Raine this time, and didn't even go back inside. She walked past the entrance towards the Academy, thinking that she could maybe find a good book to read while Raine got over her blue funk.

She stepped inside, grateful for the warmth. So much so that she didn't notice that she was completely alone, without even a librarian behind the counter. The lights were still on and so she, oblivious, perused through Sybak's collection.

"Hello, Mesha…"

A male voice sounded.

A book held tightly in her hands, she turned around in surprise at being called by name. For a startling moment she thought it was Raine, but that was because she had instinctively sought out the person's eyes. They were the same remarkable shade of lilac- or no. His were a bit darker. A little nervous, Mesha could only say, "Uh… do I know you?"

She could tell he was a half-elf by the way the mana surrounding him seemed to be so chaotic. There was something else in his field of magic, however, that set her hair on end and made her feel like running away as fast as she could. Dropping the book from nerveless fingers, Mesha found herself backing away from him. He was in her way- in the path to the door.

"You might have heard of me," he said, stepping forward. His voice was young, handsome, and filled with misplaced humor. "I'm Raine's younger brother."

Her eyebrows perked up at that in curiosity and she stopped for a half a moment. "You're…" she tried to remember. "…Genis?"

The half elf threw his head back and laughed, laughed, laughed.

High in the sky, a pinpoint of red flame steadily grew larger as it closed in on the city of Sybak…

**OoOoOo**

"Wait- I don't understand!"

Sheena snagged Lloyd's sleeve as he tried to rush from the room to go storm through the village, bloodshed on his mind. The stiff set of his shoulders said he didn't have the patience to wait around for explanations. Zelos stood between the two, breaking her grip on the hero's sleeve, her face in his hands as he forced her to look up into his eyes.

"Orochi is dead," he said, as gently and clearly as he could, enunciating each word. "He's dead, and right now the person who's been walking around looking like him could be the friggen Pope for all we know, OK?"

Sheena shook her head, "That's impossible. I know Orochi-"

"Not even Cruxis technology ever got around to making such an authentic copy," Kratos supplied, not to argue but to simply state a fact. Even so, he got to his feet, fingers inching towards the hilt of his sword. "Kloitz, even with his Desian roots, would have some trouble developing one on his own."

"Is there some sort of Shinobi magic he could be using, Sheena?" Colette asked, pink fairy wings fluttering and expression anxious. "This isn't the first time he's done something like that. Plus, he has both Kuchinawa and Urashima on his side now, remember."

Sheena stopped at that, one hand hovering over her lips as her eyes stared into somewhere else, the pieces all clicking together in her mind.

_Where is the fake?_

The paper, thrust abruptly under Sheena's nose, was clenched by fingers pale and tense. They gripped the hastily scrawled note tight enough that the knuckles turned white. Sheena looked up at Matias, mouth dry.

"Orochi should be at his house," she said softly.

No sooner had she spoken than Zelos whipped around and ran out the door as fast as his legs could carry him, already pulling out his sword. Lloyd was fast on his heels, and behind them- Matias, purple eyes blazing. "H-Hey! Wait up!" Colette shouted, following her husband on tiny pink angel wings. Last of them all were Kratos and Sheena, one waiting and the other shell shocked.

"Orochi…" she said. "Orochi isn't dead. I saw him yesterday.. I saw him…"

Eyes wide and unseeing, Sheena found that her legs moved of their own volition, carrying her at the back of the group, mind filled wit nothing but a blank, dread-filled fizz. Kratos was behind her out of sheer habit of always guarding the rear.

"_Kloitz_!" Lloyd roared, kicking down the door with murder in his voice. He was greeted very warmly by a shower of gleaming sharp throwing knives. He grunted, knocked backwards by what should have been a fatal blow, his white angel wings showing him to be no mere swordsman. Zelos leaped over his staggering figure, his sword out and slashing down onto where Orochi had been standing. The ninja leapt to the side, digging a close-range dagger deep into Zelos's back as he ran by the knight, leaving it embedded there as he barreled past Colette.

_Shhhhing!_

Orochi flipped over to the side as a single feather, wrought elegantly out of deadly steel, flew by his face close enough to nick his cheek. His inky black eyes sought out the attacker, finding Matias with his arm still poised in the act of throwing, purple eyes narrowed. Pulling down his scarf just enough to reveal his mutilated, sewn up lips, Matias drew another steel feather from his back and ripped his mouth free to speak out loud for the first time in who knew how long.

"Just give up, Kloitz!" she said, falsetto voice ringing sharp and clear as a bell, undeniably female. She clenched steel feathers between each of her fingers now, arms crossed and ready to plunge each of them into his heart. "Give up and die!"

Orochi grinned at her. "Kloitz? Sorry, you're too late to see him."

Taking advantage of her surprise, he barreled forward, knocking her off her feet as he charged past her to the outside and to freedom. From above him there was a deadly rain of steel feathers and chakrams spinning in and out of range; from behind him as a ninja and three swordsmen gave chase, two of them aiming fireballs and lightning strikes at him.

He ran for the walls of Mizuho, so preoccupied with those behind him that he was caught simply because he did not look out front.

A huge, gloved fist caught him right in the gut as he ran on by. The fake Orochi could only gasp in pain before sinking to the ground, making strange noises deep in his throat. The puncher stood casually with his other hand inside his pocket, gloved hand still in a fist at mid level in front of him.

Sheena was the first to reach him, slowing to a walk as she looked up at the six-foot-plus Genis Sage.

"About time you got here," she said, out of breath, glancing downwards at the fake Orochi. "Skin-sharing," she muttered under her breath.

"I dunno," Genis said, the winds from three other landing Rheiards blowing up his thick blue hair. "I just saw all of you chasing him and decided this was the best thing to do."

"You're too late," the fake Orochi gasped even as his face melted off to reveal that of Urashima the exile. He laughed hollowly, fumbling with something in his hands. Before Sheena could stop him he threw his head back, swallowing two pills dry and laughing. "Kloitz is gone! He left this skin to me, and you'll all suffer for the shame you heaped on my name, outsiders!"

His voice was cut off as he choked, eyes bulging and hands gripping at his throat. Foam seeped from his mouth and in less than a minute, he was on the ground, stone cold dead.

**OoOoOo**

All she felt was cold.

Mesha awoke to coldness all around her, her eyes filled with nothing but a deep penetrating darkness. There was no time in the void, no pain, no noise, nothing at all. She was disoriented, not knowing where was up and where was down and couldn't remember what light looked like.

All she felt was cold.

All she heard was the whirring of machines.

She fell asleep again, unable to even discern the subtle difference of having her eyes open or closed.

**OoOoOo**

All she felt was pain. Hot, burning, unbearable. The air in the bubble was stifling- stale and recycled. Raine got to her knees even though her head swam at that simple action, her eyes seeking out the crouching figure of Harley.

"You're awake," he said, whole frame quivering. Sweat poured down his face, and he looked as though he had just run a mile. "Thank God. I- I don't know how much longer I can hold up the shield with just the glove alone." For the first time she noticed a bulky glove with compartments all along it, looking like it could be equipped to hold Ex-Spheres.

"What in Martel's name is _that_?" Raine asked, eyebrows furrowing as she took in her surroundings. They were completely caved in by burning rubble. "And what in Martel's name happened? I can't remember anything…"

Harley managed a weak smile. "My secret weapon- the Omniglove. It senses what elements are in the air around us- generally only air and earth are plentiful enough to actually power it, but when I went to check on it earlier today the fire readings were out of control. I ran outside…"

Now she remembered. She remembered looking up at the snow-filled sky and seeing it up there- a man-shaped essence of flame, a familiar one. Efreet was in the sky, coming closer to the earth. All around him had been spheres of fire that fell before he did, smashing into the buildings and on the streets. She found Harley, screamed, "Where's Mesha?" and then there was a terrible heat and then she had found herself here.

"Please, Raine." Harley's hoarse voice broke her out of her recollection, forcing her to return to the here and now. "It was all I could do to battle the fire and keep us here. You need to help us get to the surface."

"Of course, Harley. You need to rest." Raine got up, standing next to him with one hand griping his wrist. He transferred the spell to her and then collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily, letting her take charge of the shield. Raine's knees almost buckled under the pressure of the spell and she wondered at how Harley kept it up for as long as he did. Even with her Ex-sphere she was having trouble.

How were they going to get out of here?

"I'm going to create a stalagmite," she said at last. "Harley- are you listening?"

"Yes, Professor," was Harley's automatic response from his position, prone on the floor.

"We're going to ride it out of here as it punches us out of the wreckage. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good. Just hang on-" She let out a huge breath. "Because I don't know how deep we're in this mess."

"Neck-deep," was Harley's response, but he still managed to get to his hands and knees and clutched the ground firmly, looking upwards at her. "Ready when you are. I'll try to help as much as I can with the Omniglove."

"On three: One."

She prepared the spell in her mind, a sudden gust of fresh air sprouting around her, blowing her silver hair upwards and flapping the baggy material of Harley's clothes. "Two." She crouched next to him, one hand on his shoulder and one on the ground. "Three! _**Stalagmite**_!"

There was an explosion as the ground beneath them shot upwards. One of the spires burst through the ceiling and the protective bubble shifted to concentrate around the bodies of the two half-elves clinging on to the sides of the rocketing chunk of earth, their eyes closed as Harley kept the black magic spell from dying out, sending them higher towards the sky while Raine concentrated on their shield, one arm still around Harley as she felt hot embers start to break through. And just when she thought the shield would burst they were free, soaring into the sky on their own private mountain of volcanic rock. Harley stopped the spell and the earth began to fall again, leveling out into flat surface where they stood and looked around them at the wreckage that used to be Sybak.

"Oh my God," someone whispered, and Raine was surprised to know that it was herself.

All around them was nothing but a black, ashy wasteland.

**OoOoOo**

Before they could talk, Genis and Sheena toppled over to the floor as the ground beneath them began to rumble. "_Now_ what?" Zelos yelped, clutching to Kratos for dear life.

"This wouldn't be your work, would it Sheena?" Pandora asked when she landed, uncertainly wobbling her way over to the ninja. Sheena shook her head, checking to feel Gnome's garnet just to be sure she still had control over the elemental.

"I don't think-" she started, but then a booming voice rang out all around them and thunder pealed, causing Colette to shriek.

**Keeper of the pact!**

The noise tripled; a flash of lightning blinded them all and they cried out, covering their eyes. When they could look up again they all took a step back at the floating mass of energy before them. "Since when the hell could _you_ talk?" Lloyd demanded of the pulsing purple orb who erupted into sight before their eyes.

"Volt?" Sheena asked, blinking away the spots in her vision. "I guess you really want me to control you too, huh?"

**The alternative is to become as Efreet has- a mindless slave! **The energy crackled with a brand new intensity and Volt's gleaming red eyes burned again with another strike of lightning. **I can not allow it! I will not allow it! Fight me, Pact Maker, or die worthless to us!**

"Whoa!" Sheena, Genis, and Pandora rolled to the side as lightning flew their way, scorching the earth and the body of Urashima to a crisp where they had been standing only moments before.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're horrendously outnumbered," Matias said, steel feathers clasped between every finger like throwing knives. "And I will protect Sheena with my li- _oomph_!"

She was knocked to the ground by Zelos, who hip-bumped her in the middle of her proclamation. "Nuh-uh!" he said. "_I'm_ protecting Sheena with my life, you weird… crossdressing… pretty person you!"

"Hey!" Pandora said from her spot next to Sheena, clasping onto the ninja's hand. "If anyone is going to-"

"People, can we please discuss this later?!" Lloyd shouted frantically, pulling out his swords. Kratos swooped over to his son, wings erupting out of his back as he stood next to Lloyd.

"**Triple** **Fang Blade**!" They shouted in chorus, dragging their swords through the air so fast the friction caused flames to erupt along the blades. A wall of pure energy shot up to stop them in their tracks and Volt screamed,

_**FIGHT ME!!**_

Regal's leg guards were on and he kept his hands under control as he focused his chi to his feet, allowing his mortal body parts to come into contact with the ball of lightning and not be scorched. "**Swallow Dance**!" his growling voice said, flying through the air graceful as any bird.

Presea's axe flew. "**Tiimmmbeeeeeeeeeeer**!" the not-so-taciturn girl screeched joyously, cackling as a rush of strength flew to her arms and she cleaved Volt in two. He simply reformed himself, red eyes focusing on her, and she gulped. A solid punch of energy rammed into her gut and she flew backwards into one of Mizuho's huts, crashing right through the wall and into someone's kitchen. "Uh, sorry," she said to the terrified Mizuho woman and charged back outside, little spiders of electricity still crawling over the surface of her body.

Colette flew above them all, clasping her hands together in fervent prayer, readying a spell of her own. "**Angel Feathers**!" The rain of energy feathers fell down on him. Volt gave an unintelligible screech of anger, returning back to his normal static language now that he was done challenging Sheena again. Zelos and Pandora pulled out their blades, Pandora swinging hers easily around as Zelos strapped on his shield. They rushed Volt from either side as Matias joined Colette in the skies, her own storm of feathers ripping through Volt's immaterial flesh. "**Sword Dancer**!" Pandora said. "**Hurricane Thrust**!" he said, and then as one:

"**Gale Force Winds**!"

It was like a light show, the sun and lightning beating off the bare, gleaming bodies of their swords moving faster than the eyes could see. Genis spread his feet, both of his hands open and pointed towards Volt as arcane runes etched themselves onto the ground at his feet. His grey eyes grew bright as hot, dry winds howled around him, the mana building up inside him and burning his tongue with the raw power. "**Meteor Storm**!"

Sheena tried to summon Undine; she could not. She tried then the Sylph- they were gone as well.

_Who do I have left, then? _She wondered in fear as hunks of burning rock fell from the sky. _Who do I have left…?_

**OoOoOo**

The amethyst glowed brightly in her palms.

"Is that it?" Pandora wondered, leaning on her sword as she breathed heavily, black eyes burning still from the heat of battle. "Is it over?"

"For now…" Regal relaxed his arms to his sides. "Yes."

"This is highly unusual behavior for the Summon Spirits to seek out the Summoner, Sheena," Kratos said, sheathing his sword with a snap.

"You don't think I know that?" Sheena said after pocketing the amethyst. Zelos began to fuss over her, putting petty healing spells on her wounds and completely ignoring his fiancé, who was in worse shape than Sheena. "Jeez! Are they just going to keep popping up unless I go to them? Zelos- quit it!"

"But you're all bloody!" he wailed, wringing his hands. "My Sheena! My lovely Sheena! If you die who is left to ogle at? Kratos?"

Matias made a small noise of disgust under her breath. "This reeks of Kloitz's interference," she said. "I know him. Whatever he's planning is coming together already."

No one responded at first, until: "Got your lips fixed, huh?" Genis said airily, like he didn't really care either way, and supported Pandora with one hand clutching her elbow. "Good, those notes were getting annoying."

Matias covered her mouth with her ragged, filthy scarves once more, perhaps aware now that the ruin of her lower face was exposed for all to see. "For now, I can speak," she said to him, sounding a bit surprised. "But the Mizuho curse is still in place, though it seems to be working slower than usual. By the end of tonight, no doubt the threads will weave through my skin again, and force me to keep my silence. In the meantime…"

She looked around her, purple eyebrows rising.

"We've created quite a mess."

Blinking the fog of battle rage out of their eyes, the fighters looked around to see that the surrounding huts had all been destroyed by stray forks of lightning or spells gone awry. Sheena's heart sank like a stone to see this, shame burning her face.

"Oh no…" Colette said, holding her chakrams over her mouth.

**OoOoOo**

"They're all gone," Raine said, her legs giving way. She sat down, and a cloud of ashes rose up only to settle back down with her, staining her wet cheeks. "All the people. All the books. Everything…"

Harley sat, propped up next to her. "Who…?" he started, but found that he couldn't finish. One in part to the fact that his throat was too constricted, and partly because deep in his heart he already knew the answer to his own question.

Raine got to her feet, and started walking away. After a confused moment of utter isolation he followed, not knowing where they were headed, but knowing already that his wandering teacher had formulated a plan. It didn't need to be said that Mesha was dead with all the others, that revenge was paramount. Right now all that they could concern themselves with was getting a ride.

And after that, well… it wouldn't be pretty, that was for sure.

That was for damn sure.


End file.
